Chronicles of the Challenge
by Azharia Kyrissaen
Summary: Strange crossover between DBZ, GW, SM, Xmen, and a few others. They all get brought to a deserted planet to fight enhanced versions of their old enemies for the fate of the universe. Sort of a mix. Comedy, Romance, Adventure, and just plain strange. Long
1. Prologue

CHRONICLES OF THE CHALLENGE: PROLOGUE  
  
By Asharia Kyrissaen.  
  
  
For the purpose of this fanfic I'm changing the ages of the Gundam pilots from 15 to 18. The scouts are 18-19, and Goten and Trunks are Approx. 19. And Gohan has a son named Gotu. Anyone with a problem with this might as well stop reading now. Also if you are a great fan of any of the characters I use and don't agree with how I represent them (although I'll try to have them as close as possible to the originals), IT'S a fan FICTION! FICTION being the key word here! Relax!!! (I did however change Darien. Now he changes straight to Prince Darien, and Tux-Mask DOES NOT EXIST!!!! HAHAHAH!) The same goes with the character's powers. I have watched the programs, not done a degree on them, so some of their attacks might be slightly off. I'll do my best though!  
Now to the fun part.... I don't own Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Marvel, Dragonball Z, or any of the elements I have taken from the FF8 world in general in the creation of new characters. I don't know who owns most of them but it's not me. Don't sue me or I won't be able to buy your merchandise. Callum and Aria are mine (minus their place of origin etc.), as is this story. If I find it anywhere that I didn't personally put it, heads will roll........  
  
  
Far away in the Void of Space, two Celestial voices rang out.  
"I will not allow you to do this thing Kaerack! You will unmake reality!"  
"No Alron," came the disembodied reply. "Not unmake, just reshape, in MY image!"  
"No. Your darkness will destroy Billions of worlds! I cannot permit this."  
"And how can you stop me?" The voice sounded amused. "A direct conflict between us would certainly 'destroy' these billions you speak of. You cannot stop the inevitable!"  
"I can and will! I issue The Challenge, which by our law you are bound to accept. The to the victor goes control of the lives of the lesser beings whose existence you threaten."  
"The Challenge? You Challenge me? You realize that according to ancient law, the looser will cease to exist at the instant of the Challenge's end, do you not? This should prove an amusing way of ridding myself of you interference. I accept the Challenge, and as you are the challenger I claim my right to select a location. Meet me there with your chosen champions in three turnings. I will be waiting." The voice took an unusually humorous tone. "And enjoy these next three turnings. They will be your last..." With these words the presence was gone, and soon silence again ruled the void.  
  
  
  
  
The sun was splitting the stones and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. School was out, and Serena and her friends had decided to spend the day in the park. Lita and Mina were playing with Rini by the Lake, Setsuna, Michiru and Haruka were talking by the shore while Hotaru listened silently. Amy and Rei were discussing a strange dream Rei had had the night before, in which she had felt a powerful being watching the scouts battling with studious interest. Serena and Darien were sitting under a tree together watching their friends.   
"It's so nice when we all get together like this!" Serena sighed to Darien, hoping to draw him into conversation. Receiving no response, she continued talking. "And in this weather it's just the perfect day for the park!!" When there was still no reply, she looked up at him. He was grinning down at her in amusement at her chatter. She had never been able to just enjoy the moment. She was too giddy.  
"Darien are you laughing at me?" She sounded hurt. "Why? What did I do?" She would have continued, and probably started crying too, if (after looking around carefully to make sure no one was watching) he had not bent down and kissed her.  
Serena was astounded. Darien rarely openly showed affection. She thought her heart would burst. He kissed her again and a peculiar feeling washed over her. It was as if the Earth moved beneath them. Totally oblivious to her surroundings, she didn't hear the others exclaim in shock and worry.  
"Where are we?" said Rei.  
  
  
  
"I don't know but it's not the park!" answered Lita, "What happened?"  
Serena and Darien only realized something was wrong when Rini's voice rang out loudly right beside them. "Eew!!! Serena and Darien are KISSING!!" Darien leapt away in denial, and Serena went for her future daughter's throat. Rei looked on in disgust.   
"Serena what are you doing kissing at a time like this? You're such a ditz!" Serena grabbed Rei in fury and dragged her into the fray. The three of the rolled around on the floor for a few minutes yelling at one another while the older scouts looked on in resignation.  
It wasn't until Mina and Lita pulled them apart that Serina noticed their surroundings.  
They were in a big well-lit hall. There were comfortable chairs around the sides of the hall, and a cheerful fire burned in the fireplace at the end of the hall. The grass, the trees and the lake were completely gone. Serena realized that when she had 'felt the Earth move' she had literally felt it!  
Accustomed at this stage to unusual occurrences, the scouts immediately set about exploring their surroundings. The biggest source of dismay was the discovery that the door was locked. No amount of pulling or pushing would budge it, and no keyhole was evident. The scouts were baffeled until Amy's computer revealed that there was a layer of energy coating the walls of the room and covering the door also. The energy was what was sealing the door.   
This realization lightened the mood in the room considerably. Rei shrugged. "Well if that's the case I'll have that door open in a minute! Mars Star POWER!!" There was a blinding flash and Sailor Mars stood before the stubborn door. "I hate to indulge in vandalism, but you are in my way! MARS FIRE IGNITE!!!!" An impressive fireball engulfed the door, but when the smoke dissipated the door was untouched. Rei was astounded. "What the...."  
"Maybe I'll have more luck," suggested Lita. "Jupiter Star POWER!!" Another flash of light and Sailor Jupiter was glaring at the door. "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!!!!!" Her powerful attack blaster the door, and everything else in the general vicinity also, but again the door remained intact. One of the nearby chairs had however been set alight and burned to ashes by the electricity. Sailor Jupiter shrugged. "Oops... Oh well, It was worth a try." Next Uranus' Earth attack only succeeded in knocking everyone off their feet.  
The rest of he scouts transformed, but even their most powerful attacks failed to blast through the door OR the walls. Finally the scouts returned to their normal clothes and sat down to wait for as Luna said, whatever brought them to the sealed room would have to reveal itself eventually. As they waited Rei felt the presence from her dream watching them.  
  
  
"No one is sticking that thing in me! Not a chance!" In those two sentences Heero showed more emotion than he had in the past year in Duo's opinion. He had been his usual silent self so far on their travels. Duo was using his new freedom to explore the Earth, as he had seen little of it while blowing things up in his battle against OZ. Like some of the other Gundam pilots, he found Earth fascinating. Heero had agreed to accompany him when Duo suggested that the constant changes of address might get Relena off his back.  
  
  
  
The current problem revolved around a recent announcement at their new school. Visiting Ireland, Duo had decided to stay a while, and enroll in a school to see what life was like there. So far he thought it was beautiful but boring. It was getting a lot less boring now that Heero had read the notice by the Office though. It was a warning for all students to be present for the Health Board's Vaccination that evening. Apparently the government was sponsoring the immunization of all second level students against some disease. It seemed harmless enough, but Heero had decided immediately that no needle was going into his system, as he didn't know what horrible drugs the government was planing on poisoning him with.   
Duo shrugged it off as typical paranoia until Heero started muttering about killing the first person to so much as point a needle at him. Duo was still trying to talk him out of this violent course of action when they were called into the office. A doctor inside looked up at them and waved Heero to sit down. His face took on its customary determined stubborn expression and he shook his head violently. The doctor sighed and stood up.  
"Young man I'm afraid I must insist. It's school policy. Don't worry though. It will only hurt for a few minuets." She stepped towards him with a long pointy needle.   
Typically he chose this moment to pull out his gun, aim it at her, and announce in a monotone, "I'll kill you.." The poor doctor began screaming uncontrollably. Just as Heero pulled the trigger there was a blinding flash of light and the two young men disappeared. By the time help arrived the doctor was sitting on the floor crying uncontrollably about disappearing teenagers who tried to shoot her. She was subsequently relieved of her job, and sent for therapy to help her cope with her 'obvious hallucinations'.   
Heero and Duo appeared in a large hall where Heero's shot narrowly missed the head of a girl about the same age as him with two very long blonde ponytails. She screamed and the four other girls in the room started shouting at him to "Leave Serena alone" and tell them "Who the hell" he was. The only person not shouting was the guy standing behind the screaming girl. Heero was considering putting them all out of their misery with a few more shots when he heard a familiar voice behind him.   
"What happened? Where am I? Heero is that you? Duo? What's going on?" Quatre sounded as confused as Duo felt. Forgetting the girls, the two pilots turned to greet their friend, Duo happily, and Heero as close to happy as he ever gets. Just then the last two pilots appeared looking dazed. Trowa merle looked around his new surroundings, while Wu-Fei, who had materialized several feet in the air, landed on his back and shouted "Injustice! What's going on?"  
Within a few seconds the five pilots had orientated themselves with the hall, and, quickly establishing that none of them had a clue what was happening, they turned to the other inhabitants of the room. Heero was still holding his gun, and his fingers seemed to twitch dangerously at the trigger. He didn't seem to appreciate not knowing where he was or what was happening. Quatre watched his finger nervously for a few seconds before diplomatically suggesting that himself and Duo should do the talking. The others shrugged and they all walked across the hall to the group sitting by the fire, who were still watching Heero with suspicion.   
Quatre spoke first. "Hi. I'm Quatre. These are my friends Duo," Duo smiled and waved at the five pretty girls in front of them, "Trowa," Trowa nodded silently, "Wu-Fei," Wu-Fei simply looked on with contempt, "and Heero." Furious that his name had been revealed, Heero shot a venomous glare at everyone in general, and again considered the tempting possibility of eliminating the strangers.  
The blond girl, sensing Heero's anger, stepped forward and offered her hand. "Hi. I'm Serena. I guess if you just appeared you couldn't have been shooting at me, so lets pretend it never happened. Shake?" Heero turned away from her but Duo, seeing her face fall with hurt and embarrassment stepped in and took her hand himself.   
"As my friend said I'm Duo, Duo Maxwell, and we have no idea how we got here, so you're right. Heero was shooting at someone else. Can you tell us where 'here' is?"  
Serena shrugged. "We don't know either. We've been here for about two hours" Sit down though and I'll tell you what we do know."  
Quatre, Duo and Trowa sat, but the other two remained standing, for various reasons.  
First Serena introduced her friends, Darien, and Rini. Then she explained what had happened them so far. When she finished explaining that the door would not open, Wu-Fei, who had been silent so far, snorted and announced that is was obvious why they had not been able to open it, as they were only weak girls. Rei and Lita immediately leapt up angrily, ready to prove to him just how 'week' they were, but Amy and Mina restrained them.  
The conversation after that centered mainly around who had brought them there, while Heero and Wu-Fei tried to open the door, and Rei glared at Wu-Fei.  
They didn't have long to wait before more joined their little group.  
  
  
  
  
  
The battle raged furiously over the field, so fast that most people would be unable to follow. The others present could have, but chose not to. They were too busy eating, and when a Sayjin is eating, little else matters. If Trunks and Gohan wanted to spar, that was fine, but no-one was going to wait for them before digging into the food Chi-chi and Bulma had sent with them. The two friends had wanted some time together without a small army of warriors underfoot, so they had prepared some food, and banished the lot for the day. The exiled Z~Warriors had been joined by some friends, and had been sparring and eating happily all morning. (All except Vegita, who could rarely be described as happy, but joined in with the food and the fighting anyway, as they were the two things he was really good at.)  
Suddenly there was a blinding flash, and the group found themselves sitting on a floor in a big hall. To Goku's dismay the food had not come with them. Trunks and Gohan, still in mid battle, ricochet off the walls (which everyone noticed did not break) a few times before breaking apart in astonishment and looking around.  
Twelve sets of eyes watched them silently from the other end of the hall. "Before anyone else had a chance to react, Vegita scowled at their audience. "What are you CHILDREN staring at?" he sneered. Wo-Fei, already really pissed off at life in general, instantly recognized someone who wouldn't refuse to fight him, and, deciding that anyone who would call him a child must be responsible for his strange surroundings, leapt at Vegita with his sword out shouting "Die!" He got whacked into the wall for his troubles by a frustrated Vegita, much to the amusement of Hotaru.  
Quatre tried to help him up, but after being called weak a few times, he turned to the newcomers saying "Hi. I'm Quatre. I guess you have no idea why you're here either..." Goku stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak but was distracted by Wu-Fei, who had risen from the floor by the wall holding his side, and was walking furiously towards Vegita muttering something about Injustice. He reached the smirking Vegita and was just about to speak, when he was interrupted by more arrivals.  
  
  
  
  
The Danger-Room hummed with machinery, and rang with the sound of exploding metal. Jean Grey watched from the window as Rogue and Gambit dogged the silver-steel tentacles while trying to dissable them at the same time. Things were not looking good for the two training X-Men. They were trying out a new program Beast had thought up, and it was behaving unlike any Danger-Room challenge they had faced previously. Gambit was jumping down from a ledge, and Rogue was in mid-punch, when they both disappeared.  
Jean Grey stared for a moment before rushing to find the professor. Her mind reached out before her, discovering to her dismay that several other familiar presences were also missing from the mansion.  
Gambit stumbled as his feet hit the ground a lot sooner that they should have, and Rogue let out a yelp of surprise when her fist connected with a human jaw instead of the metal she had aimed for. An angry boy with a short ponytail sailed across the room and hit the wall (again) with a thud. He slid to the floor looking dizzy. Everyone stared in shock for a moment, and Rogue walked towards him guiltily. "Ah'm sorry. You OK? What happened?"   
The words "Weak", "Woman" and "Injustice" floated up from the heap on the floor as it struggled to rise, and, insulted, Rogue turned back to Gambit. By now he had been joined by the familiar faces of Wolverine, Bobby, Sam, Beast, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Storm and Archangel. They were all looking at one another in confusion.   
"Ah Know Ah wasn't here a second ago!" came Sam's distinctive accent.   
"Me neither. What'r you guys doing here?" from Bobby.  
More voices joined in, until Storm, with the calm voice of reason, quieted her friends, and turned to the rest of the room.   
"What's going on? Why have we been summoned here?" As usual Storm's voice was laden with authority.  
A smiling man stepped out from the group beside her. "I was just about to ask the same thing. I'm Goku, and me and my frinds were out in a field a few minutes ago, and I know I didn't bring us here....."  
Three young people stepped forward from around the fire and joined the blond boy who had just addressed Goku. One of them, a pretty girl with long blonde ponytails, spoke up. "Hi. I'm Serena. These are my friends Mina, Quatre and Duo. We have no idea why we're here either, but if you wanna come sit with us we'll tell you all we know." Everyone nodded and sat, except Wolverine, who stood behind Jubilee, Vegita, who stood alone, and Wu-Fei, who stood glaring at Rouge while being glared at by Rei.  
Introductions were made all round, and the explanations began. When they reached the part about the stuck door, there was the obligatory pause while all the newcomers tried to open it. They ALL failed.   
The green man named Piccolo commented that that must be why Gohan and Trunks had not even dented the wall while battling, and the 'boy' who kept hitting it didn't even leave a dent.  
  
  
  
They were about to settle down to talk again when the last of the group arrived With the characteristic flash, two young people appeared. The boy seemed about 19, with messy brown hair and a grinning smile. The girl looked 18, and was beautiful, with long wavy blond hair deep eyes, and was also smiling. The two were engrossed in a giddy conversation.  
The smiles vanished, and the girl's eyes underwent a dramatic colour change, when the two realized that things were not as they should be. The girl looked at her companion with concern. "Callum, What just happened..... This is.....well I'm not sure what it is but home in the Garden it's not!  
He one she called Callum looked around in confusion. " Well.....Eer...I don't know actually. Relax Aria. I'll figure it out......" He turned to the rest of the hall. "Excuse me, but have ye any idea...."  
"Where you are?" Finished Mina, "No. We don't know either." Everyone sighed as a shortened story was repeated again for them. There was surprise when the two didn't try the door themselves, but it was greeted by a comment from the girl, "Why should we. You said it wouldn't open. I believe you. Ye don't look like the type of people who could be defeated by a mere door." She smiled and her eyes changed colour again.  
"I'm Aria and this is my cousin Callum. We're Seeds!" She said with pride. When everyone looked at her blankly she tried to explain further. "We're from Balmb Garden. We've trained there to be warriors. Callum and I were on our way back from our first mission when we were sidetracked here." She seemed rather proud of her ability to sum up her life in a few sentences.   
  
Trunks gazed at her quietly, but Goten had been bursting to say something since he heard the word Seed. "Seed? You don't look like a Seed!" Callum and Aria looked at each other and shrugged. Callum answered. "Seeds are fully trained warriors from a Garden, which is a Training Center. They...well they carry out the orders of the Garden's Principal, and where he sends us isn't our problem. Um...Does anyone have any idea how to get out of here? 'Cause Aria and I are expected back to report on the success of our mission in a matter of hours!"  
Vegita sneered. "It's not like any of us want to be here. What makes you so special?"  
Callum chose to ignore this, as did Aria, although her eyes flashed angrily in yet another colour.  
The group discussed methods of escape for another quarter of an hour before a flash of light announced a new arrival. They turned around with a collective sigh, preparing to start introductions all over again, but saw only a robed figure with a long white beard floating a few inches above the ground with his hands clasped before him.  
"Now all the initial players are in place." Came the wise compelling voice. " I may now reveal to you why I have summoned you all to this place."   
  
  
  
Ok that's all for now. Kinda longwinded I know, but it should improve when they find out what they're there for.... Please Review, it only takes a second. It's my first Fanfic and It'd be nice to know that someone actually read it! If you wanna criticize fine, but make it constructive criticism. Useless story bashing won't help me improve, but it WILL shatter my already fragile Ego. Anyway let me know if you want me to continue! And if there are any couples you'd like set up, gimme a suggestion!  
Asharia  
  
PS.Come on people... 2 words of a review from you in return for 3743 words by me seems a fair exchange.....be reasonable!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Explanations

Chronicles of the Challenge. Ch 1  
  
Hello again. Welcome to Chapter 1. (I strongly advise you to read the prologue first, or this could get a little confusing.) Thanks for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter too. It's going to get a little strange, but who cares. Anyway I just realized that I never listed exactly who is on the planet, so it might help if I did now.   
  
  
SM   
Serena  
Darien  
Rei  
Amy  
Lita  
Mina  
Hotaru  
Haruka  
Michiru  
Setsuna  
Rini  
  
DBZ:  
Goku  
Gohan  
Goten  
Gotu  
Trunks  
Vegeta  
Krillin  
Piccolo  
  
GW:  
Heero  
Duo  
Quatre  
Trowa  
Wu-Fei  
  
X-Men:  
Logan (Wolverine)  
Jubilee  
Ororo (Storm)  
Remy (Gambit)  
Rogue  
Hank (Beast)  
Kurt (Night-Crawler)  
Bobby (Iceman)  
Samuel (Cannonball)  
Warren (Arch-Angel)  
  
Other:  
Aria  
Callum  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Wow...that's a lot more than I thought... Oh well....there are ways of thinning the ranks...just don't get to attached to any of the characters....Hehe... Don't worry. Anyway, they'll be splitting up into manageable groups soon to explore, battle etc.   
  
Again, the fun disclaimer part:  
Now to the fun part.... I don't own Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Marvel, Dragonball Z, or any of the elements I have taken from the FF8 world in general in the creation of new characters. I don't know who owns most of them but it's not me. Don't sue me or I won't be able to buy your merchandise. Callum and Aria are mine (minus their place of origin etc.), as is this story. If I find it anywhere that I didn't personally put it, heads will roll........  
  
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Everyone looked at the newcomer in surprise. There was sudden silence, and all that could be heard was the sound of Logan's claws extending, Wu-Fei's sword being unsheathed, and Heero releasing the safety catch on his gun. Despite this, Vegita was the first to attack. A firm believer in the motto "Attack now, ask questions later," he launched himself across the room swinging his fist at the hovering stranger. He passed right through him and landed hard, before rolling to his feet again.  
  
"Wow, he's fast!" came the impressed voice of Goku. "Kakarott you fool, I didn't miss him! He's not really there!" To demonstrate his point, he walked forward angrily and waved his hand violently through the insubstantial mid-section.   
  
"A hologram!" commented Storm thoughtfully.  
"Fascinating!" added Beast examining the hall around them. "I see no evidence of the projector anywhere!  
  
Amy looked up at him from the palm-top computer she had been frantically tapping figures into. "It's not a hologram!" she exclaimed. "There are no signals coming to it at all! There is however suddenly a very strong presence in the room. I think he's a real being!"  
  
Beast nodded enthusiastically. "Yes...If he had no corporal body then theoretically he could himself create a visual image with which to communicate with us!"  
  
Beast and Amy would probably never have stopped, having found someone willing to discuss the science behind their visitor, but Rei interrupted suddenly. "You guys, he's the same one who was watching us in my dream last night!" She glared at the image. "Who are you and what do you want?"  
  
"I am Alron," came the wise calm voice from beneath the robe. "You are correct, all of you. I am an astral being, with no physical body, as you would know it. I have been observing all of you carefully, and have chosen you as my champions in the Challenge."  
  
Everyone started to talk at once, and it was several minutes before it became obvious that this thirty-six way conversation would not work. At Beast's urgings, but with much complaining, each group sent forward a representative. Finally, Storm, Serena, Quatre, Goku and Callum stood before their cloaked abductor.   
  
Storm spoke first. "Perhaps you should tell us more about this 'challenge' you speak of. And explain why we would wish to act as your 'champions'  
Alron would have sighed in relief if he had a body. Thank the maker he had included Storm in the group. She was the calm voice of reason in the group. He thought for a moment and examined the emotions in the room. Tension as running high. He decided to get straight to the point, and began to speak, in a hypnotic voice.  
  
"I am old, and of an ancient race. There are however but two of us remaining. My brother, Kaerack and myself. With our racial powers divided between only two of us, we have become more powerful than you could imagine. Kaerack wishes to use his powers to reshape reality in his image. He has grown evil, and his actions would destroy billions of lives, uncountable worlds. I cannot allow this to happen."  
  
Alron's voice was hypnotic, and the whole room was hanging on his every word.  
"I have issued a challenge to him, and he has accepted. This means that each of us will chose champions, who will engage each other in combat until one side emerges victorious. In this instant, the loosing challenger will cease to exist. We know not why, this is simply as it always has been. For the sake of the universe you must fight for me!"  
Now Logan managed to shake himself out of the trance and voice what was on everyone's mind.   
"And why should we do yer fightin' for ye? If yre so all powerful go fight him yerself!"  
"Alas I cannot," came the sorrowful reply. "A direct confrontation between us would unmake whole worlds. No two beings were ever meant to hold so much power. Perhaps that is why the Challenge exists. I'm afraid I must insist you champion me. I will not return you home unless you fight, and I cannot return you home unless you win. I am incorporeal, and unimaginably powerful, so you have no chance of forcing me. You cannot leave by any of your own means. I have energy barriers surrounding the planet. This I regret, but I do it for the good of all! Remember it is for all reality we fight. You cannot turn away from this!"  
  
Quatre spoke up in a quiet voice. "Maybe you should tell us what this challenge involves."  
Another smart child, thought Alron indulgently. "Yes I will explain. The challenge has rules, but they only apply to Kaerack and I. For the combatants, anything goes. Kaerack selected the location. We are on an alternate version of earth, where one hundred years ago the slayer turned evil and unleashed he demon realm upon the world. Now there are no humans left alive anywhere, only the demons, monsters and spirits which hunt each other in the streets of the cities. Some of these beings are immensely powerful, and despite your abilities, many of you are unprepared to face supernatural demonic threats. I advise you to seek shelter each night in one of the buildings. You will need rest anyway, as you will be here for some time. Fear not, after, I will return you to your homes at a time only a few hours after you left. Some of the buildings will have food, which you will also need. These will help you."  
  
Suddenly a little mini-computer appeared in front of everybody. They all took them, with varying levels of enthusiasm, and examined them.  
  
"They contain a hidden map, which will reveal itself to you gradually as you explore the city. Thus you will always have a record of where you have been. Food is also indicated on the map, to help plan your resting-places. The five Gundams you wish to ask me about," he said nodding at the pilots, "are marked in too. They also allow you to communicate with one another over distances. The last feature to help you is the list of players. All of you are listed with information about yourselves, to help you aquatint yourselves with your teammates."  
  
"Finally I must give you some advice. Avoid the streets at night. Among the creatures that haunt them is the Dark-Mist, a gray mist which winds itself through the city, and whose merest touch will drain one's soul. I suggest you avoid flying, at least to begin with, as being conspicuous in this city is unwise. Wait until you know what perils await your appearance. And lastly, it would be best if you all split into mixed groups, to hunt your opponents more easily, as your methods of combat are different, and some of you are more suited to various opponents. You may recognise some of your old enemies, but do not be fooled because you have beaten them before. Kaerack has enhanced them all to a level of power they wuld never have dreamed of previously. You would be wise to be wary of them"  
  
"I wish you good luck in your battles ahead. The door will be unsealed in the morning at first light." With that Alron was gone, and the warriors were alone again. Pandemonium broke loose.  
  
Noise reigned for about quarter of an hour, until finally each group sent forward again a representative to decide what to do next. Many were of the opinion that they should just strike out on their own immediately, but the calm reasonable members of the group managed to discourage them.   
  
It was quickly decided that they should split up. Dividing the teams took longer. Amy joined Serena to analyze suitable combinations by hooking her computer to the new device, which they had dubbed the mini-com. Beast joined Storm because he's smart, Trowa took part because Quatre asked him to, and Vegeta because he insisted. His presence delayed the decisions immeasurably, but wisely no one complained. The group retired to the corner to conduct their debate in private.  
  
Meanwhile, the other inhabitants of the hall were carefully studying the profiles of their 'allies' on the mini-coms.  
  
Rini and Gotu had been excited to discover they were the same age, and had curled up in a corner together to figure out how to use the mini-coms. Now they were giggling at the information they found, and occasionally pointing and whispering as they found someone with a particularly unusual profile. They seemed totally unfazed by their predicament, knowing that their parents were there to take care of everything.  
  
Mina, after skimming all the info on the mini-com quickly grew very bored. Noticing two guys standing together, she decided to make the best of a bad situation. She recognized them as member of the X-men, known as Iceman and Cannonball, and after a last minute checkup of the mini-com for their profiles, she sauntered over smiling.   
  
Bobby Drake and Samuel Guthrie were busy catching up, as they hadn't seen each other in a while. Their conversation cut off abruptly as they were approached by a beautiful smiling girl. Their conversation paled on comparison. "Hi! You're Mina, aren't you? I'm Bobby." Mina smiled and looked at Sam. "And you're Samuel, aren't you?" Sam smiled and told her to call him Sam. They talked happily for a while, and soon the conversation turned to why they were known as Iceman and Cannonball. Sam easily demonstrated his likeness to his projectile namesake by bouncing himself off the roof. Bobby then froze until he resembled an ice-sculpture, and, grinning, he froze a portion of the floor to display his abilities. Mina opened her mouth to compliment them, but before she could say anything, Wu-Fei, who was storming across the room, skidded on the clear ice, and landed unceremoniously flat on his back. Bobby unfroze, and sheepishly tried to apologize, but Wu-Fei stomped off repeating the word 'injustice' angrily.  
  
Bobby, Sam and Mina looked at one another for a moment and collapsed laughing.   
Elsewhere things weren't going so smoothly. Heero was furious at the amount of information the mini-coms revealed about him, and the rest of the scouts couldn't conceal their dismay when they realized that all the information about their secret identities was public knowledge on this world. They eventually managed to console themselves with the fact that no one present was from their world. It was, however going to take a bit of getting used to.   
  
At the other site of the room Gotu and Rini were shyly approaching Piccolo. Gotu spoke first. "Um, Mister Piccolo, this is my friend Rini. We were..umm....wondering if you could sorta...teach her how to fly." There was a pause, and Gotu rushed on. "Cause we know you're a really great teacher cause you taught my Dad, and...well...Rini can't fly!" Piccolo was taken aback. He knew Gotu was omitting the fact that although he was an OK fighter, he couldn't get airborne. He was probably too embarrassed to ask any of his powerful relatives for help, and so had decided to come straight to the one who had taught his father. Rini suddenly spoke up in a trusting voice. "Please Mister Piccolo?" Piccolo shuddered at the thought of going through again what he had gone through when he trained Gohan. Gotu was a mirror image of his father at that age, and his appearance brought back all sorts of memories, all of which were overshadowed by a strong sense of self-preservation. One pupil had been bad enough, but two? No chance. Knowing that they would be splitting up the next day, he waved them off with a monosyllabic assurance that he was busy, but would help them tomorrow. Elated, they returned to their corner talking excitedly. Piccolo felt a vague stirring of guilt but brushed it aside, and, finished examining his mini-com, he decided to meditate.   
  
With Callum busy discussing the team allocations, Aria was feeling lonely and isolated, as unlike the others there, she know no one else. After standing alone for about ten minutes she realized that everyone was to busy at the moment to be friendly and introduce themselves, and that she would have to make a move or else know none of her new companions. The thought made her shudder in apprehension as no great monster ever had. Shy by nature, she had an unreasoning terror of rejection, which had probably been caused by her mother's cold abandonment of her at the innocent age of five. Suspecting it's origins failed to banish her fear though, and so it was with her heart in her mouth that she approached the first person that came into her head. He was the one she had noticed staring at her when she first appeared. According to her mini-com, which had been open on the page with his picture for ages, his name was Trunks, and he was the son of the scary looking short one. She glanced again at his profile as she walked over, and then pocketed it and tried to smile. She already felt stupid.   
  
Goten and Trunks had finished skimming the profiles and returned to complaining to one another about the loss of their big picnic when they noticed the Aria approach them, smiling shyly. Goten smiled back. This should be interesting. Trunks had been stealing glances at her continuously for the past half an hour. Goten had counted 12 individual glances in the last minute alone. He figured that it should be amusing watching his friend forget his own name with nerves. Surprisingly introductions went pretty smoothly (mainly because Goten had pity on Trunks and helped him out). Aria introduced herself to them apprehensively, but within a few minutes she was chatting easily with them. They were so easygoing it was hard to be uncomfortable. Soon they were happily discussing various fighting methods. Aria was fascinated with the account they gave her of their skill, and they were equally interested in the concept of magic and Guardian Forces. Goten grinned when he noticed that his two companions' eyes kept straying to one another, but he generously decided to refrain from commenting on it yet.   
  
Suddenly the room grew quiet, as all eyes turned to the group in the corner, who were returning to their friends, decisions obviously made. While they were repeating the discussions, Amy managed to send a list of the teams to everyone's mini-coms, and everyone poured over them in fascination. Very few people were actually happy with the decisions, as they split up all the original groups, but amazingly no one protested out loud.   
On everyone's screen, the same list had appeared:  
  
Team 1  
Serena  
Darien  
Trowa  
Setsuna  
Warren (Arch-Angel)  
GohanHataru  
  
Team 2  
Amy  
Hank (Beast)  
Quatre  
Sam (Cannonball)  
Bobby (Iceman)  
Mina  
Goten  
  
Team 3  
Rini  
Gotu  
Piccolo  
Kurt (Nightcrawler)  
Heero  
Rei  
Callum  
  
Team 4  
Wu-Fei  
Vegeta  
Michiru  
Haruka  
Rogue  
Remy (Gambit)  
Aria  
Trunks  
  
Team 5  
Jubilee  
Logan (Wolverine)  
Duo  
Lita  
Goku  
Krillin  
Ororo (Storm)  
  
One or two of the most notable reactions in the hall were Rini and Gotu's delight at being placed with Piccolo, Piccolo's contrasting horror that he might have to keep his promise, and Wu-Fei's disgust at being stuck in a weak group full of women.  
  
The general consensus was to rest for the night before separating in the morning. Then they would set out, and for lack of any better destination each group would follow the signal emitted by one of the Gundams. Unfortunately they had no way of telling which Gundam was which, so they chose randomly.  
  
Things soon began to quiet down. Aria introduced Callum to her two new friends, feeling a whole lot better about separating now that she knew someone in her new group. She was secretly happy to be with Trunks, and Callum promised to keep in contact with the mini-coms.  
  
Rini and Gotu found two cozy couches by the fire and fell asleep.   
Goten left Trunks with Aria and Callum, and went to meet some of the people on his new team. Mina, Bobby and Sam quickly included him in the conversation, and soon all three guys were happily vying for Mina's attention.   
  
Before everyone settled down for the night, there was one more startling revelation to be made.  
Vegeta had been staring Aria for more than an hour, and it was really beginning to disturb her. Trunks was unable to shed any light on what his father found so interesting in her facial features, saying that he didn't know why his father did anything. Callum too was quite unhelpful, and found her distress quite funny. She was building up the courage to ask him to stop staring, when he suddenly spoke to her condescendingly.  
  
"You, girl, who is you mother?" Aria's eyes turned to a dark gray shade, and caught off guard by his unexpected question, she answered him. Everyone within hearing distance was blinking at Vegeta in astonishment. A flash of unpleasant recognition flickered through the Saiyjin Prince's eyes. "Tell me more I think I might know her." He didn't sound as if the knowledge would bring him much pleasure.  
  
Aria didn't really want to discuss her mother. It was a sensitive issue, but she didn't think refusing would be such a good idea either. "I doubt you do. She died 13 years ago, and you ARE from a different world." Vegeta's face suddenly seemed to cheer up. "Died? Really? How?" Now Aria really wanted to stop, but everyone was now watching, and she didn't think starting a fight with Vegeta would endear her with her companions. Although some might have appreciated it... She forced herself to remember the events leading up to her abandonment. "I was 5. My village was attacked by bandits while she was visiting the nearby town. My father was one of those killed." Callum watched her in concern, and felt like hitting the bastard who brought it up. Instead he simply put his hand on his cousin's shoulder in support, as she continued. "After she returned and discovered what had happened, my mother became strange. She started talking about being from a race of warriors, and being wrong to go against the King's wishes and deny her true nature. She kept apologizing to the same King, asking him to recall her from banishment. She had these long conversations with thin air, as if there was someone there. The general consensus was that her rantings were hallucinations brought on my shock, and that they would pass. I was left alone, as my father's family didn't really like her to begin with. They had always called her 'foreign.' She gave a weak smile. "With the exception of Callum. Anyway her madness didn't stop. It became worse, until one day a few weeks later she brought me into her and started telling me that I was a warrior, and I must not deny my nature as she had. The next day she enrolled me in the Garden. She suicided that evening. Callum joined the Garden the year after, and we've trained there ever since." She suddenly glared at Vegeta. "Are you happy now??"  
  
All throughout the narration Vegeta hat been looking more and more satisfied. Now he suddenly burst out laughing. "Yes! Actually it does please my that she realized her mistake before she died!"   
  
Everyone was looking at him in shock, and most faces also contained a healthy dose of horror at his insensitivity.   
  
Vegeta laughed for a few more moments at his discovery, and then decided to share it with the group. "Aria's mother was no human. She was an exiled Saiyjin! That wasn't madness at the end. It was the only lucidity that woman ever experienced. She was a pacifist. She preached about peace and co-existence, and refused to fight. A Saiyjin pacifist! She was an embarrassment to all true Saiyjins, and so my Father exiled her into deep space. We never heard of her again. How ironic that her brat should be one of the few remaining people with Saiyjin blood left alive!"  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Goku, his voice mirroring the disbelief on all the Dragonball warriors' faces. "Of course I'm sure Kakarott! She's a mirror image of the weak traitorous fool! And besides. That pendant she's wearing is written in our language!"  
  
Aria looked down at her black-opal pendent and blinked, speechless. She looked at Callum, who shrugged, also at a loss for words.   
  
Vegeta seemed finished, but suddenly he burst out again. "Of Course! I had forgotten which family the traitor came from! It explains a lot! You too have always denied your destructive nature! It must be a genetic defect!" Everyone was now looking more confused than ever. Vegeta paused for dramatic effect. Comprehension began to dawn on Piccolo's face, but the rest just looked with innocent blank faces. Vegeta indulged in another evil smile. "It's very simple Kakaarott but I'll explain it slowly in small words so you understand. That traitor was your older sister. I never mentioned her because we all tried to forget her embarrassing existence after we banished her, and besides, I didn't like her. So that makes this weak child your niece! Maybe now you'll stop whining about never meeting your stupid family!"  
  
Looking very satisfied Vegeta got up and crossed to the other side of the hall to rest for the next day, leaving a silent audience to absorb the bombshell he had just dumped on them.   
  
Goku was the first to react. Suddenly he bestowed upon her one of his characteristic happy smiles, and walked towards her, joined along the way by all his family and friends. Soon Aria was overwhelmed by happy new relations, all trying to introduce themselves at once. It was impossible not to smile at their enthusiasm, but she hadn't a clue what anyone was saying over the general conversation. It was a relief when Gohan pushed his way through the group. "Hello cousin!" he grinned. Would you like me to make some introductions for you?" Soon, with his and Trunk's help, she was able to identify Goten's father, brother and sleeping nephew, and their friends Krillin and the monosyllabic green Piccolo. Trunks and his father Vegeta were more friends of the family (although she was told by Trunks that Vegeta would deny this to his dying breath), and she felt a peculiar sense of relief when she discovered that Trunks was no relation of hers.   
  
Once she could identify all of them, she began to relax and enjoy herself. Having been without a family for 13 years, it was wonderful to be the center of attention. She quickly decided that if she had had to choose a family, this would be it, as they eagerly accepted her without reservations.  
  
It was nearly morning when Goten was busy telling Aria about Chi-chi. Goku fell silent and examined the girl in front of him. He had wondered about the family he had lost in the destruction of the Saiyjin homeworld for some time, but she was hardly what he had expected. She didn't look very warrior-like, and had no visible resemblance to himself or his sons. He had however taken an instant liking to her, and it was clear that the others had as well, with the exception of Piccolo, who rarley took an instant liking to anything. He decided to take some precautions to ensure he'd be able to introduce her to Chi-chi. He beckoned to Trunks, who got up and came over to him immediately. "Hi Trunks! I was wondering if you could do me a favor. You and Vegeta are the only ones of us in Aria's group. She doesn't look all that strong, and this world sounds like a pretty mean place. I know she must have been brought here for a reason, but just in case..." Trunks nodded. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she's still around when this is all over." Goku smiled in happy satisfaction, and they both turned back to the conversation.   
  
Meanwhile elsewhere, similar promises were being made. Setsuna promised to keep an eye on Hataru, Piccolo miserably promised Gohan that he would keep Goku out of trouble, and Rei assured the other scouts that Rini was perfectly safe with her. None of the X-men found it necessary or even wise to ask Logan to watch out for Jubilee.  
  
Soon everyone was ready to leave. There was a bundle of last minute goodbyes, but no one was too worried about parting, as they had the mini-coms to keep in contact. Aria said a last goodbye to Callum and her new family. With little urging, the previously immobile door swung open like any other, and they all stepped out into a derelict city in the early morning sun. With a few waves, the 5 groups then went their separate ways.  
  
  
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Ok everyone that's enough for now. Sorry if it's a little strange, but it was written the morning after a party that went on until 7am, and I could barley see the screen in exhaustion. Special thanks to all who reviewed the prologue, and to Beena and Shelly for their help. Thanks for the comments, Hikari no Tenshi, I'll try and get them together for you, at least for a while. I'm going away for 2 weeks tomorrow, but I'll probably be able to upload anyway. If not, I'll have loads for ye when I get back. Bets are now being accepted as to which character gets killed off first! (Don't worry, I won't kill 'em all, but there are over 30 of them, surely we can spare a few...) Tune in for the next chapter to find out!  
Happy Christmas!!!  
  
PS Now for my traditional word count. I've given ye 4592 words in this fic, all I want is about 3 in return. How long would that take? 30-40 seconds? Criticisms are welcome, but as I've said before, make it constructive criticisms, as useless story-bashing will shatter my fragile ego. Thanks for your time!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Day One

Chronicles of the Challenge ~ Ch 2  
  
  
Ok I'm back again with the next installment. This should be fun, finally I get to make all my favorite characters actually DO something (And SOMEONE'S gonna die hahahah)! Yippee! Anyway Thanks again for all your encouraging reviews. It's so nice to feel appreciated!! :) (Last chance to place bets on who's on my hit list!!) Sorry this took so long to finnish, and sorry it's so long, but my proofreader went on strike. Don't worry at the lack of action in the beginning. I have it in order of who has it the easiest, which means that the last two groups are the most action-packed. Enjoy!!  
  
"Copy paste" previous disclaimer blah blah blah:  
Now to the fun part.... I don't own Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Marvel, Dragonball Z, or any of the elements I have taken from the FF8 world in general in the creation of new characters. I don't know who owns most of them but it's not me. Don't sue me or I won't be able to buy your merchandise. Callum and Aria are mine (minus their place of origin etc.), as is this story. If I find it anywhere that I didn't personally put it, heads will roll........  
  
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Group:  
Piccolo  
Kurt (Nightcrawler)  
Gotu  
Rini (Mini-Moon)  
Rei (Mars)  
Callum  
Heero  
  
  
  
The group traveled quickly through the decaying streets of the city. Weeds grew through the pavement, and cracks showed in the walls. They had been walking since first light, and, after a few rests, it was now mid-afternoon. The slow pace was grating on Heero's nerves. He felt at a distinct disadvantage in this place without his Gundam, and wanted to have its backup as soon as possible.   
  
The pace also seemed to be wearing at Piccolo, but he was to busy explaining the concept of flight to the two irritatingly buoyant children to hurry. Besides, the pace he was capable of would easily let the others behind, and he had promised to keep an eye on Gotu. Until Gotu could keep up, there was no point. He never thought of carrying the lot of them. There were 6 of them and they were trying to keep a low profile. He decided it best to move slowly, and try again to get the two young ones airborne. He quickly decided that they were very slow learners.  
  
A few meters behind them, Callum and Rei were discussing magic. They both had very different views on the subject, but Callum managed to keep the conversation from incurring Rei's temper. Heero was not so lucky. When he suggested for the tenth time in a quarter of an hour that they should "shut up and hurry", Rei exploded. She told him in no uncertain terms exactly what she thought of him, and his opinions, and even his personality in general. Things went down hill from there.   
  
Night-crawler suggested gently that they should calm down or risk drawing unwanted attention, but they ignored him totally. The fight had now escalated into a full-blown shouting match. Heero had never said so many words together in his life, but he couldn't help himself. The girl was just so unbearably irritating, and he found it felt surprisingly good to shout at her. Rei similarly was enjoying herself, even though she was furious at her travelling companion. It was nice to fight someone other than Serena, someone who didn't burst out crying at the slightest hint of criticism.  
  
Callum watched the feud in amusement. He was happy simply enjoying the show until a large vicious creature burst from behind a building in front of them. Since no-one was shouting in recognition, he guessed that it was simply a Demon thingy native to this world. Heero and Rei broke off in mid-argument in shock. Heero immediately pulled out a gun. Meanwhile Piccolo and Gotu took on fighting stances. Rini fell backwards in fright, calling for Darien. It was Rei's battle preparations that took everyone by surprise. Pulling out a little pen shaped object, she swung it in the air, shouting "Mars, Star, Power!" She was suddenly surrounded by fire and light, and when the flames cleared, Sailor Mars was facing the Creature, feeling pretty angry at being dragged away from her argument.   
  
Gotu's clear childlike voice commented on how "cool" she was, just before their attacker launched towards them. It was a long snakelike creature, so long it's body extended far around the corner, and its long fangs were dripping an ominous black liquid. It wasn't very terror inspiring to any of them, who had all faced much worse in their time (although Heero had to admit that a giant snake was a first). However, far from becoming blasé, they treated this new threat with the respect due to an unknown opponent.   
  
The group easily dogged its first attack, and Rini, wishing to win similar praise from Gotu, gathered her courage and quickly transformed to Mini-Moon. Heero's bullets meanwhile bounced off the creatures hide harmlessly, and a brave Gotu lunged at it, and barely missed being swatted into a wall by a massive claw. Rei was the first person whose attack had any visible effect. Her celestial fire attack left large burn marks on its hide, but left her open to be impaled on one of the claws. Luckily Nightcrawler teleported in and pulled her out of harms way. Then Piccolo was ready to attack. Putting his hands together, he yelled something unintelligible and a ball of energy flew towards the creature. The impact was blinding, and when the group could see again, there was no trace of their large assailant.   
  
Rini and Gotu were thrilled, convinced that something so large didn't just disappear, and it must be dead. The older members of the group weren't so certain they had seen the last of it, and they picked up the pace, and quickly vacated the area. Surprisingly Heero and Rei managed to restrain their bickering until they were a safe distance away.   
Once things had settled down, they continued on towards the Gundam. Rei and Heero bickered, and Callum watched in amusement. Piccolo continued teaching Rini and Gotu to fly. He had little luck, until Kurt joined him to offer help. His calm reassuring advice contrasted with Piccolo's slight impatience, and finally they had the youngsters airborne (by only a few inches). Unfortunately they couldn't seem to do it alone. For some strange psychologically obscure reason, they could only leave the ground holding hands for reassurance. Finally, Piccolo gave up separating them and walked away, throwing up his hands in disgust. Kurt stayed with them long enough to praise them for their progress, before following Piccolo, asking him if he ever meditated. The children happily practiced their new trick hoping to get higher above the ground the next day.   
  
Rei finally stormed away from Heero and joined the levitating juniors. Callum walked up to Heero and smiled. He got a characteristic scowl in return. Callum figured he had talked himself dry arguing with Rei, and he didn't look like a very talkative guy to begin with. When Heero monosyllabically asked to be left alone, Callum grinned at him, saying "It's OK. I have a brother who's antisocial!" Heero looked at him funnily for a moment before laughing out loud. Callum's off-the-wall remarks had that effect on people. Heero was beginning to worry about himself though. He was acting totally out of character. Perhaps it was something in the air, or maybe that mad doctor in Ireland had done something to him after all. Just to reassure himself that he hadn't really changed that much, he decided to kill on sight the first person to comment on it.   
  
It was beginning to get dark, and the children were on their last legs. Nightcrawler suggested that they find shelter for the night before they collapsed completely. They checked the maps and found an advised resting place nearby. Heading towards it they found a large warehouse. It was inhabited by a nest of what could only be called vampires, but they made short work of them (finding it quite disconcerting when the bodies turned to dust) and went searching for the food. They found a large crate of food in one corner, which looked so out of place they decided that Alron must have left it. After all there were fresh foods in it, and the planet hadn't been a place of human habitation in 100 years. As Callum said, it didn't take a genius to figure out. They set into the food with a vengeance, as they hadn't eaten all day. Gotu happily helped himself to several subsequent helpings.   
  
After eating, things settled down. Rini and Gotu fell asleep in utter exhaustion, Callum, Heero and Rei sat silently, each absorbed in their own private thoughts, and Piccolo and Kurt meditated. Two hours later they were all asleep, having survived their first day.  
  
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Group:  
Serena (Moon)  
Darien (Prince)  
Trowa  
Setsuna (Pluto)  
Hotaru (Saturn)  
Gohan  
Warren (Arch-Angel)  
  
  
"I'm TIRED!" complained Serena again. They had been walking for 3 hours and she was ready to collapse. Hiking had never been her favorite extra curricular activity. With Darien's encouragement however she managed to continue on. Hotaru was also feeling the toll of their rush, always having hated PE, but she remained silent. They were a subdued group, as they all had the distinct feeling that they were being watched.   
  
Gohan lead the little group, with Darien and Serena behind him, followed by Warren and Setsuna who were talking quietly. Trowa and Hotaru brought up the rear. They were getting along pretty well, as neither of them felt the need to fill in silences with useless chatter.   
  
It was mid-afternoon when they stopped for a break. Serena thought her legs would fall off if she walked another step. She sat back and closed her eyes. She opened them again quickly at the shouts of alarm from her companions. The sight that greeted her was surreal. All her companions were dodging a large energy blast which was heading straight for her. She shrieked, but before it had a chance to reduce her to ashes, Darien was at her side, now in the Armor of Prince of Earth, and he pulled her to safety. The shock-wave as the blast hit the ground threw everyone off their feet. As the dust cleared, they crawled to their knees, and were able to make out their attacker. Gohan, who was now hovering in the air surrounded by energy and supporting pointy blond hair, gasped in recognition.  
  
"Freiza!!" he exclaimed. Freiza let out his characteristic evil laugh as the others scrambled to their feet looking at Gohan questioningly. "He's dead!" Gohan exclaimed. "I saw him die. He was defeated by my father, and then killed by Trunks! How is he here?"   
  
"I'm here boy," Freiza smirked, "Because not even death can stop me from extracting my revenge, and there are two glorified MONKEYS on this planet who I will enjoy disposing of." Gohan gasped as he felt Freiza's energy multiply at an incredible rate. Soon it had far surpassed anything he had been capable of before Trunks had finally rid them of him.   
Freiza noted his shock and continued. "But don't worry. I recognise you, and I don't think I'll let you live long enough to see them die. You and your companions are history!"   
  
Darien urged Serena to begin her transformation, so she pulled out her locket. Sailor Pluto and Sailor Saturn were already standing in front of her staring defiantly at their attacker. Arch-Angel was hovering overhead and Trowa was aiming his hand-gun at Freiza. He didn't know why Gohan was so worried about their attacked, but in his experience, a good clean shot killed everything.  
  
Freiza gave them an evil grin filled with contempt, and a pulsing ball of energy began to form between his hands, and expand outwards. Sailor Pluto waved her staff and a sound-wave blasted towards him. However Pluto's Deadly Scream did nothing to faze him and neither did Saturn's subsequent attack. A barrage of razor sharp quills shot by Arch-Angel bounced harmlessly off Freiza's armor, as did Trowa's bullets, much to his amazement. Darien, who leapt at him with his sword, landed on his back on the sidewalk, bleeding profusely.  
  
When Sailor Moon saw him land, she grabbed her scepter furiously, and struck a heroic pose. "I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice. I right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you. You hurt the one I love, and threaten my friends. Prepare to become Moon dust!" While Freiza's energy ball grew, she held her scepter in front of her. "Moon Scepter Elimination!" The strength of her attack forced him a few feet backwards in the air, but left both him and the growing energy ball intact. Sailor Moon fell backwards in shock, and suddenly unsure of herself, she dropped her scepter and stared.   
  
Gohan watched all his friends fail to leave a mark on Freiza, and decided it was up to him alone. He put his hands together at his side. "KaaaaMeeeeee....." he yelled as a small energy ball of his own appeared between his hands. "HaaaaaMeeeee......." It began to grow. "Haaaaaa!" That energy ball blasted towards Freiza and there was an enormous explosion. Everyone was thrown to the floor, and dust and debris from several nearby buildings flew past them. Gohan watched eagerly as the dust settled slowly. A faint light became apparent, and as it grew clearer, a cold feeling gripped his stomach. The light became Freiza's energy ball, and it was now huge. Feiza hovered beneath it, his evil grin now looking positively malicious. "Now if you've all finished, I think it's my turn!"   
Gohan's heart fell. The energy levels coming from Freiza's direction ad now reached unheard of proportions. Never one to give up easily however he braced himself for the impact, and began trying to think of ways to defeat the enhanced version of his old enemy. He couldn't help wondering however whether this planet had any Dragonballs. They had certainly needed them last time they had encountered him.  
  
Freiza laughed and suddenly the energy ball came blasting towards Gohan and his companions. Everyone dove for cover, but before it reached them, a powerful authoritative voice rang out from above them. "Stop!" The ball stopped mid air. "Be-gone!" To everyone's amazement the ball began to shrink away to nothing. All eyes turned to the figure standing on a nearby balcony.   
  
A beautiful woman stood there in a flowing blue dress. A cloak of lighter blue waved behind her in the wind. Her hand was stretched out in front of her, and she wore an expression of confidant determination on her face. She gave the group a warm smile and turned her attention back to Freiza.  
  
Freiza was definitely not amused. With lightning speed, several more blasts followed the first one. None reached their target. Most were destroyed, but some were deflected back at their creator. Gohan immediately grabbed the opportunity to add his own Ki-blasts to the counterattack, and Freiza staggered back under the weight of the barrage. Suddenly he let out a yell. "This isn't over Sayjin, I will return, and when I do I will destroy you and every one of your week friends!" With that he was gone.  
  
Their rescuer jumped lightly down form the balcony with a laugh. "Hi. I'm Sharol. Alron sent me to help you. Looks like I came just in time!" Sailor Moon helped up Darien, who had survived his fall and injuries thanks to his armor, and they joined everyone in the circle around the new arrival. Introductions were made all around by a group elated by the retreat of their attacker. Only Gohan remained apart. Several things were bothering him. Firstly of course was the fact hat Freiza had returned, more powerful that ever. Secondly, Sharol's power levels had been negligible while she battled Freiza. Gohan was at a loss to explain how she had survived at all, let alone hold her own in the fight. Thirdly, despite the amazing levels of power being radiated, none of Gohan's friends had arrived to help. This was more easily explained, with the assumption that there was a power at work to dampen the energy's ability to be felt over distances. The last and most worrying question however was why had Frieza left? The powerful warrior Gohan had known would never have admitted defeat and fled. His pride would have forbidden it. And besides, he wasn't really loosing. Considering the amount of energy he displayed, he should have been only slightly fazed by the barrage of ki leveled against him. Why he had abandoned his chance to destroy the son of his enemy was mystery to Gohan, and one which troubled him deeply.   
  
With a shrug, he finally gave up trying to figure it out. He sent a message to his friends with the mini-com, telling them to be careful, as Freiza had returned, acting strangely, and his power levels would probably not be apparent over distances. Then he rejoined his friends and Sharol.  
  
They unanimously agreed that it was getting late and they should seek shelter. A quick glance at the mini-coms showed that there was a shelter nearby, and so they headed for it. As they walked Sailor Pluto fell behind, worrying about something. Warren, noticing her distress, joined her, asking if anything was wrong. She gave him a distracted smile, staring ahead of her at Haruka, who, no longer in the form of Sailor Saturn, was once again walking with Trowa. "It's Haruka." She explained. "She's aging. It's not very apparent yet, but come tomorrow morning, she should have advanced by about 6 years if she continues at this rate."  
  
Warren was unconvinced. "She looks the same to me. Are you sure?" Sailor Pluto pulled her eyes away from her aging friend to look at him with concerned eyes. "I'm the guardian of time, I'm more sensitive to these things. It's not just the aging I'm worried about. She's done this twice before. When Sailor Moon was in mortal danger, she grew up to aid her. The fact that she's growing again may mean that we're all in much, much more danger than we realize."  
  
Warren looked between his companion and her aging friend, her last statement worrying him more than he cared to admit. Pluto decided to wait for a private moment to discuss it with Serena and Darien, and so Archangel and the Guardian of Time walked on behind the group, talking in subdued tones.   
  
They found the shelter with little difficulty. It was a rundown house on a little side-street, whose outer appearance did little to inspire confidence. The inside however, was comfortable. The kitchen was well stocked, and the sitting room was warm enough to drive out the chill caused by a day spent outdoors. Slowly, one by one, the group settled down for the night.  
  
As the group dispersed to find resting places for the night, no-one was surprised when Sharol retreated upstairs alone. No one followed her. Most of them had found sleeping space near the warmth of the sitting room rather than venturing up to the chilly second floor of the building. Apparently Alron's willingness or ability to provide shelter only went so far. No one followed Sharol, and so no one witnessed her actions.  
  
She climbed the stairs quietly, and as she got out of sight of her new companions, her smile faded from her face. Entering one of the upstairs rooms, she bolted the door, and knelt before the window. She raised her hands in supplication, and began to speak in a reverent voice quite unlike the authoritative confidante tone she had adopted earlier. "My Lord Kaerack, it is done, I am accepted into the group. Everything has proceeded as you planned. I have already chosen a victim vulnerable to my powers, and begun my work. Before long, all of these fools will be under my control, and thus under your command. None suspect." A sudden wind blew the shutters open and a gust of wind further chilled the air in the room. Somewhere in the depths of her mind she felt, rather that heard, a malicious laughter, and a feeling of satisfaction. That was all the evidence she received to show that her master was pleased. Forced to be content with that, she rose from her knees and went to the bed. Curling up in the blankets to keep the cold at bay, she slept soundly until morning, knowing that her subtle magic was already at work downstairs.   
  
In another part of the city, Freiza's silent flight came to an end in front of a small building. A tall figure awaited inside. It was Kaerack, and the hostility radiating from his guest did nothing to faze his projection's air of calm. Freiza was angry enough without being ignored, and announced in the demanding voice of one used to instant obedience, "I have fullfilled my part of the bargain. That brat and his companions believe that they have defeated me. Now return to me my full powers and return me to full life. I have an old score to settle and I grow impatient." The figure facing him shook its head. "Not yet."   
  
Freiza's face twisted in anger, but before anything else could be said, The image of Kaerack waved its hand and time stopped around the frustrated warrior. "Not yet" He repeated to the now frozen oblivious form of Freiza. "Everything is not yet in place. But soon, and when I release you, the power you displayed today will be only a fragment of your strength. Soon." With that Kaerack's image dissipated, since with no observers around, maintaining a visible form was pointless. He turned his attention to what was occurring elsewhere, leaving Freiza frozen in Time.  
  
Back in the companion's shelter, Darien was unable to sleep. At first he blamed this on the bruises he had sustained earlier that day, but on closer examination, he discovered that that his minor aches were not at fault. It was the nagging feeling that he didn't belong that was causing his restlessness. Not just feeling out of place in his world, or with the new allies they worked with, but even his friends seemed distant. Across the room, the sleeping form of Haruka, who was already showing signs of the aging Pluto had discreetly warned them about, seemed like a stranger. Pluto herself, in another corner, was talking quietly to her new friend Warren, and to the once Prince of Earth, their whispering seemed sinister. Even Serena, asleep peacefully on his shoulder, seemingly oblivious to his inner turmoil, seemed different, foreign. He tried to shake the feeling, but hour by hour, the feeling that these people around him were not his friends grew stronger.  
  
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Group:  
Jubilee  
Logan (Wolverine)  
Duo  
Lita (Jupiter)  
Ororo (Storm)  
Goku  
Krillin  
  
  
Wolverine and Jubilee watched the battle taking place above them in frustration. Since it all took place in mid air, neither of them were able to join in. This annoyed Wolverine much more than Jubilee, as she was used to feeling useless, and at least she could irritate the enemy by throwing fireworks up towards them. Her random blasts were probably bothering her allies just as much, but at least she was doing something. As was Lita, now in the form of Sailor Jupiter, who, also unable to fly, was flinging impressive Lightning attacks at their five attackers to compliment the lightening being thrown from above by Storm. Krillin and Goku were simply defending themselves, as if biding their time.  
  
And all the time Wolverine had to watch. He wanted to throttle someone, and at the moment, the most tempting option was the only person who was even more useless in this situation than he was. The so-called "Gundam Pilot", who was rolling on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter.   
  
The source of Duo's intense amusement could be traced back to the sudden arrival of five armored aliens. They had appeared before the group a few minutes earlier, simply hovering smugly in mid air while Goku and Krillin gaped at them in astonishment. Everyone else had looked at their expressions in confusion, while Duo held back the laughter that was instinctive to him due to the alien's odd appearances.   
  
"The Ginyu Force!!" Goku exclaimed finally. "But you're all dead!" As if affirming this would make it true, Krillin nodded franticly beside him. Their companions were unconvinced. The 'Ginyu Force' were right in front of them after all.   
  
After a suitably long dramatic pause, one of the aliens, whom the two Z Warriors recognized as Captain Ginyu, began to speak. He gave a lengthy speech about returning for revenge and inflicting pain on his enemies, while his audience watched in confusion. Duo, listening to the hopelessly over-dramatic speech that stank of soap-opera marathons, found it even more difficult to contain his laughter.   
  
Then, at the conclusion of the speech, the five alien warriors struck an evil pose. The sight of this was too much for the Pilot, who had simply fallen over laughing helplessly. His laughter had infuriated the five attackers more than any calculated taunts, and, furious at not being taken seriously, they had attacked immediately and without caution.   
  
From what Wolverine could see, their careless fury was making up for any increase in power they might have had, and his three allies fighting them didn't seem to be having much trouble. Goku and Krillin were holding their own, while Storm tried to reason with their attackers, raising her voice over the electric sound of the lightening emitting from both her and Sailor Jupiter. She wasn't having much luck. She had to try however, as she had a strong distaste for needless bloodshed. While she spoke, Goku and Krillin held off their offensive, blocking not only blasts intended for them, but also those aimed at their giggling friend, who seemed to have effortlessly made the Ginyu Force's hit-list.  
  
However the Z Warriors' patience only lasted so long, after all they had met this Ginyu Force before, and certainly had no fondness for them. While the aliens' strength may have been enhanced, Goku and Krillin had increased in strength also, and so when their patience finally ran out, the two warriors began dispatching enemies with ease. Soon three unconscious bodies landed on the floor before Wolverine, while the Sayjin and his friend faced the fourth, and the fifth began to fall, overcome by the combined power of Jupiter and Storm.  
  
"Well Ginyu, the last time we saw you, you were a lot smaller, and greener than you are now. Didn't life in the pond suit you?" Krillin's taunt was enough to finish driving the leader of the team over the edge, and charging furiously at Goku, he soon joined his friends in a heap on the floor.   
  
They joined Storm, and together they rejoined their companions on the floor. Wolverine was staring at the unmoving aliens before him with satisfaction. As the others landed, he extended his claws, and raised them above the still forms.   
  
"No Logan! They are helpless now!" Storm's warning stopped him just as he was about to bring down his clenched fist with lethal efficiency. His hand paused mid air, and he turned to face her. "We can't leave 'em behind us. I get the feeling that we're gonna bump into a lot of old enemies like this something-force," Krillin helpfully interrupted with the word Ginyu, but fell silent under Wolverines glare, winning a grin from Goku as he whispered "This guy scowls nearly as bad as Vegita!!"   
  
As if there had been no interruption, Wolverine continued. "And the last thing we need is for 'em all to gang up. I say we get rid of this lot now. That's five less to worry about." Storm shook her head, and Goku looked at the pile of bodies. "I don't know. They seemed so week this time. They're not really much of a threat. I think we should just leave 'em. But hey. Those are some really cool weapons you got. Where'd they come from?" he asked with a big carefree smile. Wolverine turned the 'cool weapons' towards Goku along with the full weight of his Vegita-like scowl.  
  
It was decided that the Ginyu force should be left as is, in the probably futile hope that they had learned a lesson. Duo was in control of himself again, and the group was just about to set off again when Lita innocently asked Goku what he had meant by his last comment to Captain Ginyu. Hearing the story of Ginyu's body-swap with a frog sent Duo into fresh hysterics and Lita with him. It was another five minutes before they were in any shape to continue the journey.   
  
They moved on pretty quickly towards where the map showed a Gundam. Goku and Krillin lead the way, talking aimlessly and wondering what their friends were up to. Lita, Duo and Jubilee came next. Every so often Lita would flex her muscles in a bad imitation of the Ginyu Force's posing, and Duo would double over laughing; or she would, if he made some nasty remark about frogs. They had been flirting outrageously all day, while Jubilee vied uselessly for Duo's attention. Lita thought he reminded her of an old boyfriend, and Duo thought she was cute. Jubilee had formed a major crush on the young pilot, but he was obviously oblivious to the fact. Behind them, Ororo and Logan noticed it though, and Logan had definite opinions about it. "If he hurts the kid, I'll make 'im eat his heart." "Logan, Please." Was the only response.  
  
The group passed a pretty uneventful evening, and stopped in a marked shelter that night. To Goku's obvious dismay, its food stores were pretty low, but they made do with what was there. Duo announced that they would probably reach the Gundam at about mid-day the next day, followed by a quiet comment from Logan that at least they'd be rid of him then.  
  
They all decided to take an early night and set out as soon as possible in the morning. Before long they all parted, looking for somewhere warm to sleep.   
  
Just as they separated, Duo called his new friend, and she turned to face him. "By the way," he said with a deceptively casual grin, "You know when we were fighting those frog guys earlier, and you changed into Sailor Jupiter? Well that whole costume changing thing you did; that was really cool!" He laughed happily and turned to find somewhere to sleep. Lita's cheeks were flaming as she turned and did the same.  
  
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Group:  
Amy (Mercury)  
Hank (Beast)  
Quatre  
Sam (Cannonball)  
Bobby (Iceman)  
Mina (Venus)  
Goten  
  
Beast watched the youngsters in front of him in fascination. He found it amazing how easily the six, who came from four different dimensions were acting already as if they had known each other for years. The quiet Amy and Quatre were walking together in deep conversation about something scientific, while Goten, Bobby and Sam were vying companionably for Mina's attention, while she happily distributed killer smiles at random. Earlier on, Beast had had time to catch up with his old friend and companion Bobby, but now he was acting the mature adult and keeping watch, as with the others so absorbed in each other, no one else had the slightest intention of it.   
  
It was pushing towards evening and they had fought their fair share of battles over the course of the day. A large variety of what could only be called the Demons of this world had met their doom facing the group of over-enthusiastic teens already. The only one that had not been defeated was a strange ugly creature that had simply absorbed all their attacks and shot them back at them. At the advice of Beast and Quatre, who, unable to really fight themselves had become the strategic advisors of the group, they had decided on a tactical retreat. After all they couldn't fight their own attacks. The strangest of their other opponents had been a battered and bruised group of warriors calling themselves the Ginyu Force and seeking revenge for a beating that Beast and his companions certainly hadn't given them. Goten had recognized their names as warriors his father had fought years ago, and the giddy teenagers had proceeded to freeze, soak, 'love-chain', ki-blast and head-butt with a telekinetic shield, and finally accidentally incinerat them as Goten tried to show off a particularly strong attack. They shrugged, and continued on their journey.   
  
In fact, they encountered no serious threats until about an hour before sundown, when Sam and Goten, who had abandoned Mina to the attentions of Bobby for a few minutes to talk to each other suddenly called out. They were complaining at the restrictions placed on them to keep them inconspicuous which prevented them from flying, when suddenly they announced that they had seen something move up ahead.   
  
Bobby immediately froze (literally) and joined them, scanning the road ahead. Mina and Amy quickly began their transformation while Quatre turned his back. He had been turning his back a lot lately, ever since the two scouts had first changed that morning. At the first glimpse of skin under all the flashing lights and shapes, he had covered his eyes, cheeks flaming. When his companions told him he was safe to turn around again, he had been dismayed to find that the Scout's new scantily clad state was little better. Luckily for him it had been too cold for them to stay in costume, but that did mean that he had to make a point of turning his back every time there was a threat nearby and they changed again. It was clear that Mina found his shyness amusing in a nice way, but Amy had let slip that she thought it was adorable, so he was content to stay that way, even though the other guys teased him unmercifully. The girls gave him the go-ahead and he turned back, studiously avoiding looking at anything other than their faces. There was no sign of any attack yet, so they proceeded slowly, alert to any movement around them.   
  
Almost ten silent minutes passed before Sailor Venus sighed, "You guys must have imagined it, there's nothing here!" A voice from above answered, "Oh yes there is!" and before anyone could even turn around, she was grabbed by a black tentacle and disappeared. Everyone was motionless with shock for a second, before all eyes turned to the tall dark figure which jumped down from a building above them. In the place of one of its arms was a long black tentacle which was wrapped around a struggling Sailor Venus. The first person to react was Goten, who launched at the creature faster than the eye could follow, and stumbled in disorientation when his attack missed as the creature dodged with unbelievable speed. He turned around to regard it with a new respect. It was fast, despite its negligible power level.  
  
Meanwhile Cannonball and Iceman were staring at it in astonishment. Beast spoke quickly to the others. "I believe this is a creature from our world, known as Venom, although what he's doing here I cannot imagine!" He was interrupted by a shriek from Venus. "I Can't Breathe! Help!"  
  
The creature Beast named Venom began to laugh. It was creepy inhuman laugh, as if two voices were being used at once. "We are Venom! We are here to cleanse this world of the evil that infects it! We are faster and stronger than ever! You have all been judged and found guilty. Venom will feed!"   
  
Goten, ignoring this dire threat, suddenly disappeared. He appeared behind their attacker, and launched himself at the tentacle holding his friend, but was forced to jump back at the last minute to avoid being impaled by the barrage of similar red tentacles which were projected from above. There was a voice to accompany the new attacker. "Hello DADDY." It said in a mocking tone, with the same dual quality as Venom. "Starting all the fun without me?" The owner of both voice and tentacles fell from above them to land beside Venom. He looked very similar, except was red rather than black.   
  
With that the attack began in earnest. The two creatures dogged ice and water projected by Mercury and Iceman easily, and seemed to have no problem avoiding any head-on attacks by Beast or Cannonball either. Goten's speed gave them some difficulty, but before long the red creature beside Venom held a struggling Mercury in a long tentacle, and wound a second tentacle threateningly around her neck in warning. Everyone stopped their attacks immediately.   
  
"Two pretty girls! What fun!" laughed the red creature, "Scream for me, pretty girls!" Venus had passed out moments before when Venom accidentally whacked her off a wall, but Mercury, agonized at the pressure around her ribs and neck, gladly complied, gasping for breath.   
  
Her friends clenched their fists in frustration, afraid to go too near now that her life had been threatened by the creature. As they wracked their brains to come up with a way to free their two captive companions, the two creatures looked at one another as if at a prearranged signal. Then they turned and, leaping onto a nearby rooftop, they began to flee the scene, carrying their captives with them.   
  
The remainder of he group were about to pursue their attackers when there was a loud noise from a side street and 5 large robots activated and stepped out of the shadows between them and the fleeing abductors. The laughter of the two Symbionts faded quickly into the distance as the group regarded these newcomers warily. "Mobile Dolls!" exclaimed Quatre. Suddenly the lead robot spoke in a grating metallic voice. "Mutants detected. Mission Destroy!"   
  
"Sentinels!" exclaimed Cannonball and Iceman in unison. They all looked at each other in confusion for a moment, unsure as to why their new friend also recognized their enemy. Again Goten stoke the initiative and attacked the Mobile Doll Sentinels head-on, not really caring what they were. He almost broke his fist on impact. As he yelped in surprise and pain, Quatre shouted that they were probably made of enhanced Gundanium if they were that strong, and that they should fall back and regroup.   
  
"A wise idea my young friend. Discretion is the better part of valor. Let's be away!" agreed Beast, as he was lifted by Cannonball. Goten, still shaking his hand and glaring at the machines, grabbed up Quatre and Iceman grumpily. He would have preferred to stay and destroy the metallic beasts no matter how long it took, but all his companions seemed to recognise them besides him, and his opinion was certainly in the minority. Carrying their friends, Cannonball and Goten fled the scene.   
  
"Detected five mutants. Halt mutants!" Came the order from behind them. "But I'm not a mutant!" protested Quatre. "Me neither," agreed Goten "but try explaining that to them!" The perusing robots slid on a sheet of ice projected by Iceman, giving them long enough to escape. Iceman then demanded to be let go, as he could travel just as fast himself. Goten agreed that of course he could, if he was willing to leave a trail of ice for anyone to follow. Then, as the X-man tried to think of a suitable comeback, Goten asked him to unfreeze, as the hand holding him had gone numb with the cold. Grumbling, Bobby complied.   
  
It wasn't long however before Goten landed, followed by Cannonball. "We shouldn't fly any longer." he announced. "We lost those things, but something worse will find us if I keep broadcasting my power level. So lets get away from here quickly to, and while we go, we can think of a way to find the girls, and you can explain who those ugly things were, what those robots were, and why I didn't even dent them, and why I couldn't stay to try again." His failure to reduce a mere robot to dust was still bugging him, but not as much as the fact that they had let the girls' abductors disappear.   
  
They began to walk quickly away from the last place Goten had projected his energy level, and as the walked, Beast tried to explain what he knew about Venom. "Venom is a creature from our time. From what I've seen on the news, and heard from friends, he is a human, Eddie Brock, bonded with an alien symbiont. That's why he refers to himself as 'we'. He's ruthless and violent, but obsessed with guilt and innocence. If he feels you are innocent, he will protect you, if you are guilty, you are free season to feed the symbiont's hunger. Unfortunately he works on his own versions of innocence, guilt and justice. He must have been told that we are criminals in some way for him to be attacking us. The other one was Carnage. He is the same as Venom, except he and the symbiont have bonded so completely that they refer to themselves as 'I'. He is a completely mad, psychopathic killer. They seemed much faster and stronger than they are on the news, so I can only summarize that they have been enhanced by our enemy. The robots acted like Sentinels, abominations created to hunt and destroy mutants. I suspect by their timely arrival they were protecting the symbionts escape, leading to the deduction that the symbionts are working for or with someone else. As to why the robots were so strong, I have no idea." Finished his long speech, he turned to his young friend Quatre. "But I have a feeling you can make a suggestion?"  
  
Quatre had been strangely distracted while Beast spoke, but he looked up now and nodded. "I don't know what a Sentinel is, but they looked similar in design to the Mobile Dolls we fought during the war. I think they might be built with Gundanium though, since they withstood Goten's strength. Maybe they're built of something even stronger though. Everything we fight seems to be enhanced in some way." Everyone was silent for a moment before Quatre burst out, "I'm going to find the Gundam we've been following. I can't fight like this. I'm useless against the enemies we've been coming up against, but I've fought Mobile Dolls before. I can help if I have a Gundam. Ye go and find the girls. I know ye can do it. I'm going to find a Gundam. It's the only way I can help!" He turned to take a side-street away from them, as they had been drifting away from the signal since the attack.   
  
"I will join you, my impulsive young friend. If this Gundam of yours can fight the Sentinels then you must be reunited with it soon! I seems unwise however for you to go alone." With that Beast followed him, calling back to the others, "Ye must find the girls yourselves, and as soon as possible, before they are hurt! I have every faith in you, but remember. Ye must take shelter when the Sun sets. I believe Alron was not exaggerating when he spoke of the creatures which haunt this place at night. Good luck!" then he was gone.  
  
Bobby, Sam and Goten looked at one another for a moment. Then, Bobby, being the eldest remaining, shrugged at the other two. "So do we have any idea where to start looking? It's nearly sun-set." A long conversation ensued, in which they discovered that they hadn't even the vaguest idea where to start looking. While they spoke, Goten found he had a message on his mini-com from his brother. The good news it told was that his power-levels probably wouldn't be felt by anyone. The bad news was that there was a new improved Freiza loose in the city. Goten figured that there was nothing he could really do about this. The missing girls were a more immediate problem.   
  
The three finally remembered that Amy and Mina's friend, Rei, had been described on the Mini-coms as a 'mystic'. She might be able to help them find their friends. The final plan was to continue searching themselves for the night, heading in the direction the Symbionts had fled towards. If they had no luck by nightfall they would take shelter, and find Rei in the morning. Made confidant by having a plan of action, the set off again, covering a lot of ground with Cannonball and Goten flying. Goten, no longer worrying about being detected, carried Bobby, who was grumpy at again not being allowed travel by himself. He had to admit though that he did leave a big trail.   
  
Deep down, they were all optimists, and were expecting to find some trace of their lost friends before nightfall. Fate was against them however, and as the last rays of light disappeared, they had found no trace. They headed towards the nearest shelter on the map weighed down with disappointment and frustration. Goten was particularly loath to leave the search, feeling that he was a match for anything that could come out at night, but was finally persuaded by his companions to give up for the night, and find some food. They found the shelter, and wordlessly satisfied their hunger with the food they found. Once Goten finally followed his companions example and sat back, full, they silently settled down to rest, preparing for an early start.   
  
Elsewhere Beast and Quatre were also settling down. They had been sneaking towards the Gundam since they left the group, and would have found it already if not for the need for stealth. However Quatre was powerless without his Gundam and Beast didn't want to test himself against some of the things they had seen that day, so they had decided that the best course of action was to remain unnoticed. Therefor when the sun set they were still about an hours walk away from where the mini-coms indicated the Gundam would be. They reluctantly stopped in the nearest shelter, and awaited the morning, when Quatre would gain the ability to fight back.  
  
  
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Group:  
Wu-Fei  
Vegeta  
Michiru  
Hotaru  
Rogue  
Remy (Gambit)  
Aria  
Trunks  
  
Vegeta watched his son and the newly discovered Saiyjin laughing together with a feeling of utter disgust. It was clear even to him that the two were quickly becoming more than friends, and the idea of any offspring of his with the daughter of a pacifist traitor was enough to make him want to do something violent, especially since she was only a third-class Saiyjin to begin with. This new Aria person was however one of the few remaining people carrying Saiyjin blood in the universe, and that made her a better partner for Trunks than a week human fool. The thought of her as a daughter-in-law was still sickening though. Vegeta gritted his teeth and looked away.   
  
He had never been famed for his patience, and it was certainly tested a few minutes later when Aria left Trunks to join him. He looked at her with contempt, restraining himself with the thought that if he incinerated her right there Trunks would surely tell his mother when they returned, and Bulma would have the Prince of the Saiyjins sleeping on the couch for a month. Faced with sleeping on the couch, he merely said angrily "Why are you here and what can I do to change that?" She seemed to flinch for a moment, before gathering up her courage and addressing him with what seemed to be a carefully rehearsed speech.  
  
"I just wanted to thank you for what you did. You've given me a bigger gift than you could possibly imagine!" Vegeta looked her with a noticeable lack of comprehension. "What are you talking about. I gave you nothing!" Perhaps madness was hereditary in her family. Her mother had certainly not been certifiably sane, and Goku and his sons always had been a little strange as well. She answered shyly. "You gave me a family. Pointing out your suspicions was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me, and now I'm not alone anymore. Thanks to you. I....." She was cut off by a yell from Vegeta as he realized that his attempt at nastiness bask in the hall, when he mocked her mother, and in the process mocked Goku for being related to a pacifist, had in fact been the nicest thing he could have done. "Get out of my sight!" He yelled, almost at a loss for words with self disgust. Him, the Prince of the Saiyins, nice. It was almost too much to bear.   
  
Aria made a hasty escape back to Trunks, who was gasping with the effort of holding back laughter. "That was perfect! I knew he'd flip if he realized what he had actually done. Wait 'till I tell the others about this one!" He looked at Aria happily. "Thanks for going along with that. It's not often a chance like that comes along, and I'd have hated missing it." Aria looked at him, suddenly realizing what she had done. She, the shiest person she knew had just joined in the mocking of the meanest person she had ever met. And it hadn't bothered her! Having a family must have changed her more than she had thought. Or maybe it was just Trunks' influence. Caught up in a sudden exhilaration, she began to laugh along with him. "He looked so funny when he realized what I was talking about! Did you see his face?"   
  
Michiru and Hotaru watched them, Hotaru with disdain, and her partner with tolerant amusement. They hadn't spoken much to any of the others all morning, preferring their own company. Rogue and Gambit had also walked alone, more because the two teenagers were so busy talking to each other and no-one else was approachable than out of any need to keep to themselves. The last member of the party, Wu-Fei, had been walking alone ever since a chance remark about women had incurred Hotaru's wrath and sent him crashing headlong into another wall. He hadn't expected that, not realizing she was a woman, but by the time he had realized his mistake it had been too late. He had to admit, for a girl, she was pretty strong.   
  
They encountered few enemies during the day, and those that they did, whom no-one recognized, were easily dispatched. Trunks and Aria spent the day discussing their battle techniques. Trunks tried to teach Aria some of his and his friend's attacks, which was difficult, since he wasn't supposed to power-up. He ended up just being able to describe how it was done. Unfortunately his explanation barely made sense to himself, let alone his companion. She didn't mind though. She then tried to explain how to draw magic and cast it back at enemies, and due to her long explanations, Trunks managed to draw some fira from her. He had no idea what to do with it once he had drawn it however, and nearly set himself on fire. The two of them found his failure highly amusing.   
  
They continued their mix of joking and seriousness for the rest of the day, becoming more and more comfortable in each others presence. As the day wore on towards evening they had still not encountered any serious threat. Thus when night fell, they saw no real reason to stop their journey, as none of them were very tired yet. The sun set behind them, unnoticed.   
  
Soon after, the atmosphere in the city began to change, taking on an eerie quality. They began to encounter strange creatures, which, while still killable, were much stronger than their day-time counterparts. All went well until they met the mysterious mist. It sprung up as if out of nowhere before them, blocking the road ahead. It was an unpleasant sight, to say the least. It was a thick gray fog, and it seemed to the onlookers as if there were faces materializing and dematerializing on it's surface all the time. Faces wearing agonized horrified expressions.   
  
Vegeta immediately threw a Big Bang Attack at the fog, which made it grow larger. Aria, Gambit and Trunk's projected attacks did the same, as did those of Michiru and Hotaru, who were now Uranus and Neptune. No-one wanted to touch it, remembering the warning last night about mists which sucked out souls. Refusing to surrender to a simple weather pattern however, Vegeta threw another, bigger attack at it. By now it was after doubling in size, seemingly feeding on their attacks. When it started towards them, they backed away. None of them had any experience in fighting things that sucked out souls, and they were beginning to think maybe they should have sheltered for the night after all.   
  
It was only a few meters away when Aria shouted, "Alron said we'd be safe indoors! Get inside quickly!" Remembering Alron's words, the group suddenly broke and ran to the nearest building, Trunks grabbing his father in an effort to convince him that this was not an enemy they wanted to face. Rogue pulled the locked door open with brute strength alone, and flew in, followed by Gambit. Wu-Fei ran in next, muttering about injustice and demonic creatures. Trunks pushed Aria through the door to safety, and followed, with his reluctant father behind him. The two Scouts were last, and the mist, seeing it's prey escape, was moving with amazing speed behind them. As it was almost upon them, Uranus pushed her lover in front of her through the door. Neptune stumbled through, swinging around when she heard an agonized scream behind her. Rogue reached out and pulled the suddenly motionless Uranus in the door, slamming it behind her, but when the body hit the floor, the Scout was already dead, staring at the ceiling through sightless eyes.   
  
Neptune changed back to Michiru, and fell over the body of her friend sobbing uncontrollably. The others watched, but there was nothing they could do. Suddenly the body began to look opaque, and vanished entirely. Michiru was left alone on the floor.  
  
An hour passed. Rogue and Aria had taken the distraught Michiru aside, and tried to comfort her. The rest of the company had silently searched for something to eat, but found nothing, as they weren't in a marked resting place. The easy death of the scout had shocked them. Wu-Fei blamed it off on he weakness of women, but still considered it unjust. Gambit was feeling kind of sorry for the girl's friend, as he had lost someone he loved before also. Vegeta was merely mad that he had followed his son into the building instead of destroying the creature, and Trunks was sorry for the girl, but couldn't help feeling grateful that it wasn't Aria that had been caught by the mist.   
  
Finally Michiru went upstairs alone. She seemed to be in full control of herself, so Rogue and Aria suggested that she be left alone with her grief for a while, since that was what she wanted. The group was subdued, and each of them settled down to sleep or wait for morning silently. Aria wordlessly walked back to Trunks and curled up beside where he sat on the floor to sleep. He sat beside her for awhile, unable to rest himself. Finally, noticing her shivering, he pulled off is jacket and draped it over her, shooting a defiant look at his disgusted father as he did. He then unstrapped his sword and lay on his back, holding the familiar weight of it across his chest. He didn't sleep. Neither did Wu-Fei, who sat up all night staring at his own sword. No-one knew whether Michiru woke or slept upstairs alone. The room was silent as everyone waited for morning.   
  
  
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Well that's all for now guys! Coming next episode: Who persuades Michiru that suicide is a dumb idea? And what happens Callum when his GF, Diablos, breaks free? Which unfortunate pilot has their Gundam found by Duo? And why does Serena leave her group without telling anyone? Who unexpectedly appears to help Goten and his friends find the captive scouts? And on a lighter note, what's the strange pet Trunks finds for Aria? Just how old IS Haruka come morning? All this plus lots more deaths! (Sorry, there are just too many good guys to manage. Don't worry. There'll be plenty left!) So check it out. I think it'll be the chapter where most of the stuff happens, so it'll be a pretty busy day for our heroes!! Be warned though. A lot of 'mean' things are in store........ =)  
  
Ok, you've probably caught on to all the couples by now. Most of them will just flirt, as I can't go into details about so many different relationships in one story. If there's any particular couple you'd like explored however, just let me know. Similarly with anyone you'd like killed off, left alive, or any enemy you'd like to see. Hell, any suggestions are welcome. I'll try and fit 'em in! Hikari no Tenshi you should see the result of yours in the next episode. It's actually a damn good suggestion, and I've got several ideas for it now.   
  
Thanks a million for all your reviews, but I'm afraid the price has gone UP!!! (insert demonic laughter) If you want to see the next chapter alive, you must pay me.....7 REVIEWS!!! (more demonic laughter) Ahahah!!! My ego hungers.....FEED ME!!!   
  
(Constructive criticism is also welcome but please restrain yourselves from aimless story-bashing. It displays a lack of imagination on your part.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Disaster

Chronicles of the Challenge ~ Ch 3  
  
  
Hey people!! I'm BACK!! Sorry this took so long to get out, but I'm doing my leaving-cert this year, and bad leaving-cert = no college, so my writing time is limited. Plus MY COMPUTER DIED!!! It was horrible...Really Traumatic....:(....... Anyway thanks for your patience (whether you had any or not!) and THANKS SO MUCH for all your nice reviews! **pointedly ignores all the meanies who didn't review**   
  
Anyway this chapter is written in chronological order instead of by group. If I wrote it like the last one, people would probably end up in five places at once, cause there's a lot happening. If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to email me, or ask in the review. By the way you'll probably notice that I've slightly changed the FF8 GFs in this. They're much more powerful, and cannot be killed, only bound willingly or unwillingly to a holder (who must be strong enough to hold them) Just stay with me, OK, there is a reason. Anyway, Enjoy!!  
  
  
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The first person to stir the next morning was Serena, prompted by some mysterious instinct to notice that her warm pillow, Darien, was no longer where he should be. She sat up groggily looking around for her boyfriend, and wiped her eyes and stood up quickly when she realized that he was not in the room. Around her, her friends slept on.   
  
Gohan was comatose, draped over a couch in the corner. Warren and Setsuna had fallen asleep where they sat the night before, and, having shifted positions in their sleep, she was now resting on his shoulder, kept warm in the shelter of one of his big wings. Trowa lay against another wall, and Serena blinked in astonishment at the young girl who slept curled up a few feet away from him. Hotaru was now about 18, and even in sleep she was stunningly beautiful.   
  
Serena crept so as not to wake them, knowing that they had a long day ahead of them. When she reached the hall, she looked around indecisively, wondering where to search, until she heard some muted voices floating down the stairs. Smiling in recognition, she started up quietly, intent on surprising her boyfriend. As she neared the top of the stairs, the conversation became audible. The other voice belonged to Sharol, their heroic rescuer from the previous day's adventures. Curious, Serena stopped to listen for a moment.  
  
".....really how you feel?" came Sharol's voice.  
  
"Yes. I can't explain it, but those people out there are not my friends. I've never been so certain of anything in my life. I only realized it last night."  
  
"Any why come to me with this problem. Do you think I can help?"  
  
"I don't know, but when I saw you yesterday, it was as if I recognized you, as if deep down, I knew you from somewhere. Now that I know those aren't my friends, that made you the only person I felt I could talk to."  
  
"Oh Darien, you feel it too? I knew at once, but when I saw Sailor Moon I was afraid to tell you. I was afraid of her."  
  
"Felt what? Afraid of her? What do you mean?"  
  
"Felt my soul-mate. You and I are meant to be one. I was afraid she would try and stop me if I told you. She's been controlling your mind, her and the other scouts. They want you for their own evil purposes. But now you know."  
  
"Controlling me? That's it! Your presence must have helped me break their spell! Now they can never keep us apart. I will...."  
  
"Shhhhhh....."  
  
There was sudden silence, and Serena peeked her tear-streaked face silently around the corner. Her boyfriend was engaged in a passionate kiss with Sharol. There was a moment in which Serena almost thought she could feel her heart breaking, before she turned and stumbled down the stairs and out of the building, dashing tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. She tripped as she ran, but she pulled herself up and continued her mad sprint away from the others. She didn't care where she headed, or the dangers that faced her out alone, she just ran mindlessly from the memory of Darien's betrayal.   
  
Sharol watched over Darien's shoulder, and saw her flee. She wore a cruel smile of satisfaction as she marveled at how easy it was to create chaos and dissorder.  
  
It was a while before anyone woke up and noticed Serena was gone.  
  
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Piccolo woke his traveling companions early, and at his authoritative urgings, the group was quickly ready to head out again towards their target Gundam. It took almost an hour for Rini and Gotu to persuade their frustrated mentor to persist in their education, and finally it was Kurt's intervention that had convinced Piccolo to continue the flying lessons. However continue he did, and although he didn't succeed in getting the two young ones airborne separately, they soon perfected their joint flight. Before long they were mere hours away from the Gundam.  
  
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Wu-Fei hadn't slept. The tension in the room, combined with the fact that they hadn't eaten in ages, meant that only Aria and Rogue had slept at all. Everyone sat lost in their own thoughts, and so no-one really paid any attention when he stood up and went up-stairs.   
  
Michiru hadn't been seen or heard from all night. Since it was almost morning, Wu-Fei figured that someone should find her, and because the rest of the group seemed too damn lazy, that left the up to him. He wished it didn't. How was he supposed to convince a weak grief-stricken woman to pull herself together and rejoin the group? He sighed and continued up the stairs. She wasn't on the second floor. A cursory glance told him she wasn't on the third, fourth or fifth either.   
  
Shrugging and muttering something uncomplimentary under his breath about women in general, he reached the sixth floor. It contained a single small room. A large window was thrown open to the elements, making this room even colder than below stairs. Michiru's blue hair waved frantically in the wind, as she sat on he sill with her legs dangling out the window. It was obvious she was seriously considering a jump.   
  
From what Wu-Fei had heard, these scouts' power could withstand huge injuries, but what if they didn't want to survive? The fall would certainly send her to join her friend. Wu-Fei cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have bothered coming up. He had no idea how to deal with this situation, but since he was the only one there, he cursed again and proceeded to handled it in a uniquely Wu-Fei style.  
  
"Don't be so weak!" Michiru was jerked out of her sorrows by the harsh voice behind her. She swung her head around to see the Gundam pilot glaring at her angrily. Semi-frozen tears glinted in the pale pre-morning light as she whispered back; "She died. I was last; it should have been me! Now she's all alone in death. It should have been me....."  
  
He snorted at her angrily. "Yes. You were last. You weren't fast enough. If you were quicker, she'd still be alive, but she's not. Because she gave her life for you. You dishonor her sacrifice by throwing away your life." As he spoke, pain turned to agony in her eyes as she heard a stranger echo her culpability aloud. Without waiting for a response, he continued.  
  
"I suppose what can I expect. You're a woman! A weak willed woman! You don't have the courage to live on. Dying is the easy option!" At these words, a new light slowly formed in her previously dead eyes. A light of grim determination and silent mourning. She seemed about to climb in through the open window again, when a particularly strong gust of wind banged the shutters against her. There was a long moment in which she desperately grasped at the sill for support, before loosing her hold and sliding out into thin air. Her shrill scream pierced the air, before a hand gripped her wrist firmly, and began to slowly pull her up.   
  
Wu-Fei had reacted on instinct when he saw her fall, and now strained his muscles to pull her back into the room. It seemed like forever before the weight on his arm suddenly disappeared, and Michiru collapsed in the window, knocking him over and falling into his arms.   
  
He sat there for a moment, before realizing that she was crying. Not the hysterical sobs of last-night, nor the heart-broken tears of moments before, but the silent shaking that signaled acceptance of her loss. He held her, with an expression of horror and terror, frozen in shock that a girl would choose his shoulder to cry on. He wanted to bolt, but was almost afraid to move. He looked down at the girl n his arms, and though he was bursting to say something, anything, for some reason he couldn't force the words 'Weak; or 'Woman' through his lips.   
  
Downstairs, everyone was beginning to rise. Aria was still deep in sleep, troubled by dreams of gray mists. Trunks shook her shoulder gently, as she showed no signs of waking. She merle curled up tightly, pulling her 'blanket' tighter around her. He was about to shake her again, when her hand moved on the edge of his jacket, obviously realizing that the unfamiliar material was certainly no blanket. She woke quickly then, and sat up, looking at the jacket she had slept warmly under. Then she looked at him with wide eyes, and he couldn't contain a dramatic shiver. The temperature was, after all, sub-zero. She wordlessly handed it back to him, and her warm smile of thanks made his face grow hot. He quickly turned to hide his embarasment, and wandered away, wondering why, in Kami's name had he spent the night shivering when he had a perfectly good jacket with him. It was baffling, but for some reason, he didn't regret it in the slightest.   
  
Aria watched him walk away with a small smile. Privately she had to admit to herself that he was totally cute, and the fact that he was seemingly oblivious to how sweet he was to give her his jacket was simply adorable. She sat back, content to watch him silently with eyes that changed colour every few moments.   
  
Trunks could feel eyes watching him, but he shrugged off the feeling and approached his father. "What is it?" Vegeta asked impatiently. Trunks shrugged. "I just thought it might be a good idea for someone to go out and check if that mist thing is gone. I'm going out now." Vegeta nodded, and he headed towards the exit.   
  
Vegeta watched him open the door. He felt that whatever was out there was probably unlike anything they had ever, or maybe even could ever fight. Just as his son left the room, he called after him, "Trunks!" Trunks turned around. "Watch your back!" He muttered something about someone called Bulma being mad. Trunks nodded wordlessly and exited into the crisp morning air.   
  
There was no mist in sight. Nothing in any direction. Just as he was about to return to their shelter, a noise drew his attention to something hurtling towards him from above. Taken by surprise he gathered his ki. Then he saw the source of the noise. A small creature was speeding down from above him, squeaking in apparent terror. A large fanged bat-like creature the size of a man was in close pursuit. When the giant bat saw him, surrounded by the aura of ki, it turned tail and fled. Disgusted that he had let himself be surprised by such a pathetic little creature, he powered down, grateful that with this world's blanketing fields, his father probably wouldn't have felt his momentary surge of power. He turned back onto the building.  
  
Aria stood up when she saw Trunks re-enter the room. Just as he crossed the thresh-hold however, something small and shiny whizzed up behind him and crashed into the back of his head. He let out a yell and stumbled forwards. Everyone leapt up. Vegeta suddenly surrounded himself with a glowing energy, Aria drew her sword, and Gambit pulled out a glowing card, ready to throw it at something.   
  
Trunks grasped frantically at a small creature that had attached itself to the back of his head. A small scaly tail wrapped itself around his neck. "Ack!! It's trying to choke me!!" Seeing how small his assailant was, everyone let out a sigh of relief, and relaxed. Gambit and Rogue were hard pressed not to laugh at the scene before them, as Aria joined him and tried to dislodge his scaly attacker. It took a while, as it didn't seem to want to budge. Finally she managed to dislodge it from him, and took it into her arms. "It's adorable!!!!" she exclaimed. He turned around, rubbing the back of his head to straighten his hair, and glared evilly at the creature.   
  
"Hey! That's that thing I just saved!! Why'd it attack me??" Aria looked at the small creature in her arms. It was like a miniature dragon, about as long as her arm from tip to tail, with shining golden scales and big deep trusting eyes. "Maybe it likes you!" she grinned. He granted it another scowl almost worthy of his father, and it gazed back at him adoringly. Aria looked at him pleadingly. "Can I keep him? Please?" He shook his head. "Do what you want. He's not mine! And I'm certainly not keeping him!" She thanked him with another wide smile which sent him fleeing in embarrassment.   
  
Everyone was ready to leave when they were joined by Wu-Fei and Michiru. Michiru looked as sorrowful as one would expect, but also quite curious and surprised. Her eyes were fixed on Wu-Fei, and she clutched his hand with her own. She seemed to have recovered her will, if not her confidence. Wu-Fei, for his part, looked as if he was about bolt. His eyes held a wild look, and kept darting towards the exit. It was obvious that nothing in his life had prepared him for the terror of a girl with a crush. He did not, however, pull back his hand.   
  
There were a few more moments, in which everyone agreed to go on towards their target Gundam, and Aria gave Michiru an encouraging smile. Then they set out once again. The little dragon creature seemed to have decided to join them, and was curled up contentedly on Aria's shoulder, with it's tail around her neck. She had come to the conclusion that it was male, and given it the name Coll.  
  
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Elsewhere Sam, Bobby and Goten had also risen early and were heading towards where the guessed Rei should be. Their failure to find Amy and Mina the night before had caused a unanimous decision to seek the help of Sailor Mars' mystic powers. They were speeding through the air above the streets of city as fast as they dared when Goten's Saiyjin hearing heard someone crying beneath them.   
  
Without any explanation to his friends he speed towards the sound, closely followed by a confused Bobby and Sam. The sight that greeted him was a young girl curled up at the side of the road, sobbing uncontrollably. He thought he recognized her as the leader of the Sailor Scouts, and she seemed oblivious to the looming monstrosity behind her, raising a claw to impale her.   
  
Instinctively, Goten threw a Kamekameha at the creature, obliterating it on the spot. When Serena heard the noise, she looked up, and seeing what had happened, she started crying again. Goten helped her up, and remembering her name, he asked her as nicely as he could what she was doing alone away from her group. She gave an unintelligible response.   
  
He tried again, asking where was the guy she had been with before, and wouldn't her boyfriend be worried. He took a step back with the vehemence of her response when she stated that she did NOT have a boyfriend. 'No boyfriend?' he thought, 'A beautiful girl like this with no boyfriend? Excellent!'  
  
With the help of Bobby and Sam, he quickly explained where they were going, deciding that she would have to come with them rather than stay out in the city alone. When she heard of the danger facing her two friends, her unexplained misery was instantly replaced with panic. "What? Where? We have to save them!"  
  
Sam explained in his characteristic drawling accent that they were already trying to find them but couldn't. She brushed this aside, saying, "They are my friends. I can find them! How do we defeat these monsters when we get there?" The three guys looked at each other silently, unwilling to admit that their grand plan had been to rush in and attack anything that moved. She looked at them in exasperation, and, taking charge, ordered them to come up with a good way to destroy the monsters (nobody dared correct her with the word symbiant), while she located her fellow scouts. Then she walked to the other side of the street, and put her hands on her hips. The next step was to figure out exactly how she intended to find her friends.   
  
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Beast and Quatre were lying face down on a roof top looking down at Gundam Deathscythe. Quatre was dealing with his disappointment that he had not found his Sandrock, but they had a bigger problem. The Gundam was in a large warehouse, which also served as home to a nest of what could only be referred to as demons, and from what the two on the roof had observed, they were very violent demons. They had been observing the scene for almost an hour trying to come up with a plan, when Beasts Mini-com beeped. He grabbed it and silenced it frantically, buy luckily none of the creatures below seemed to hear.   
  
He picked it up and looked at the scene. The display showed Bobby and Sam, along with one of the muscular warriors from another earth. Beast but a blue finger to his lips to silence them, and, whispering, asked how he could help.   
  
Sensing the need for silence, Bobby whispered back in low tones that they needed to know Venom and Carnage's weaknesses. Beast shrugged, quietly answering "Well I heard that they could be contained by a type of sonic shield, so I summarize that some sounds are painful to them. Unfortunately, we don't have the equipment to create such sounds. Banshee could probably do it but he's not here. You'll have to find another way of defeating them." He said goodbye to his disappointed young friends, sorry he could not help them more. Then, he powered off his mini-com to avoid another telltale bleep giving away their position, and turned to Quatre, to tell him that he had finally come up with a plan.  
  
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Serena returned to the boys grateful that she had been able to find the direction her friends were in. She would have looked pretty silly if she had failed, but luckily the bond between the Sailor Scouts was strong enough that she had managed it.   
  
The disappointed look on their faces was discouraging. You guys, what's wrong. You don't have an idea? "Well we found out that they can be contained by sonic shields, but..." started Bobby, but he stopped when he saw her blank face. He sighed, and explained in simpler terms. "They don't like high noises." Her face lit up with understanding, and she looked relieved. "Then we need Sailor Pluto!"  
  
"Sailor Pluto?" they asked. "What can she do against these things?" Serena smiled at them, the determination to save her friends making her forget the morning's discovery entirely. "Think about it. Her main attack is the Pluto Deadly Scream." She explained.   
  
"Deadly Scream?" echoed Sam. "That's gonna hurt.... But it mahht just work!" It was quickly agreed that they needed to contact Setsuna, but when Goten pulled out his mini-com so she could contact her friend, Serena balked. A fearful look overtook her face, and she exclaimed that she couldn't possibly talk to that group, because 'he' might be there. Goten shrugged, promising himself that when this was all over, he would find the guy who was causing her such obvious grief and ram him through a few walls. Feeling a lot better with this decision, he contacted Sailor Pluto himself.   
  
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Setsuna and Hotaru were frantic, although with their calm appearances no-one who didn't know them well would have guessed it. They had woken to find their numbers had almost halved. Serena had vanished, and closer searching revealed that Darien and the mysterious Sharol were also missing. The two scouts were worried about Darien, of course, but the main source of their concern was the whereabouts of their Moon-Princess.   
  
They had just given up hope of her re-appearing and were about to contact the other scouts when Setsuna's mini-com started bleeping. "Maybe it's her!" said Gohan hopefully. Setsuna pulled it out hurriedly and answered, masking her disappointment well when the figure on the screen was not Sailor Moon. Gohan, who was looking over her shoulder, cheered up though.  
  
"Goten! What's the matter?" he asked. "Well umm... we had a bit of trouble last night, and Sailor Venus and Mercury were, umm... sort of captured." He hurried on when he heard the worried gasps of their friends. "But we've found them! Serena located them, and..." Setsuna interrupted quickly in a relieved voice, "Sailor Moon is with you? How? Is she OK?"   
  
After Goten reassured her that Serena was fine, he explained the weakness of the creatures, and why they thought that she could help them. Setsuna agreed immediately to join them, not only because Mina and Amy needed her, but because she was worried about Serena. Darien didn't seem to be there, and Setsuna could think of no real reason why her friend had not contacted her herself.   
  
Just then, Trowa interrupted, speaking for the first time that morning. "What about the Gundam? Where's Quatre?" Goten explained that they had split up, and described the robots they had encountered, seemingly working with the two creatures. "Quatre's gone to find a Gundam. He can meet up with us there, we'll give him directions. We may need him."   
  
They spoke for a few moments, before Goten gave them the co-ordinates to meet at, and said goodbye. Setsuna was the first to speak. "So how do we get there, it's a long way, and we don't have much time."   
  
Trowa shook his head without expression. "I won't be coming with you. If Quatre's gone to get his Mobile Suit, I will too, and I'll meet you there." After such a long speech (compared to his usual silence), he seemed slightly surprised that no-one objected.   
  
Setsuna nodded. "Ok. Hotaru, you go with him, make sure he makes it safely to the Gundam. No-one should travel alone here. There rest of us will go straight to Serena and the others and you can meet us there."  
  
Hotaru seemed about to protest, but Setsuna quickly reassured her that they would meet up again before their princess was in any danger. Hotaru looked at the quiet teenager beside her for a moment, and nodded. The two wordlessly left. Setsuna was guilty for a moment for breaking her promise to the girl's guardians, but she was 18 now, circumstances had changed in the past 24 hours. She felt even guiltier when she realized that she had just sent a child unfamiliar with the experience of being 18 away alone with a good-looking boy of the same age. Oh well, it was necessary.  
  
She walked out into the crisp morning air with her companions, and turned to them. "Now all we must do is reach them in time, we have a long way to go." She frowned in worry, but Gohan smiled at her happily. "Don't worry, we'll fly!"  
  
She looked at him quizzically. "I thought you couldn't fly or something might detect your energy?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, Goten sent me a message that power levels aren't a problem here. No one will detect them. So I can fly, and I presume he can too." He gestured at Archangel's wings.  
  
Archangel tossed him a wry grin and decided to show just how useful his wings really were. His grin turned evil, as he walked up behind the young woman who (to his secret happiness) had slept on his shoulder the night before. Without warning, he grabbed her around the waist and launched into the air, closely followed by Gohan. Taken completely by surprise, it was all the usually composed Guardian of Time could do to give them coherent directions. Once she got used to it however, she settled into the arms of the winged X-man to enjoy the ride.   
  
- - - -- - - - - - - -- - -- -- - - - - - -- --- - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Darien watched his companion silently, as she watched the group below them. She had told him that they must help defeat his previous allies before they would be able to escape this world. He had been eager for an all out attack on the people who had used him, and invaded his mind, but Sharol preferred to observe and plan first. He agreed to her plan because he felt he owed her his life, she had saved him from the mind control. Besides, an unfamiliar but insistent voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he loved her.  
  
Sharol sat silently on the rooftop and watched the group battling below her, searching their minds for her next target. The tall green man was out of the question. He would be too difficult to control. Similarly, the little blue creature with the tail had too much inner balance to be easily converted. The two children were not even worthy of consideration. That left the three teenagers. One of them seemed to have no discernable power, and was just shooting at their attacker with a gun.   
  
She turned her attention to the Black-haired girl throwing fire and the boy with the messy brown hair and the sword. Running out of hope, she examined the boy first. He seemed pretty normal to begin with, but as she probed deeper, she found something shocking. He shared his mind with a number of other spirits, seemingly held as slaves by him. And one of them, the most powerful, was raging for freedom.   
  
An evil smile marred her beautiful features. She abandoned the idea of mind-controlling any of them, and decided to see what would happen if the creature was released. With the skill and patience of a master, she carefully unbound the ties that bound the spirit. When that was done, all she needed to do was give him some strong subconscious encouragement to summon the creature, and watch the ensuing confusion.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -  
  
Suddenly something in Callum's mind snapped. "That's IT!! This is utterly FUTILE!! Everyone back off! If this thing likes absorbing energy so much, lets see how it likes being drained of it!!"  
  
The source of Callum's frustration was a large ugly demon creature that simply absorbed their attacks and grew, throwing the energy back at them after feeding on it. Physical attacks were useless against it, and they had been dodging its attacks for twenty minutes so far while they tried to find an attack that would actually inflict some damage rather than feeding the creature. Everyone was getting edgy, and when Callum blew a fuse and yelled at them to back off, even Piccolo pulled back to see what he had in mind.   
  
Callum determinedly faced the demon and began reciting the ritual words of summoning. He completed it by pulling one hand towards his chest and pushing the other towards his target. Then, to everyone's amazement, he faded out of sight.   
  
Callum felt an agonizing wrench and a malicious laughter echoed in the nothingness that surrounded him. Something was horribly wrong. He just had time to realize what was happening before the pain overwhelmed him and everything went black.  
  
Everyone watched as a swarm of bats rose out of nowhere and cast a shadow over the whole area. It began to form into a large ball of pulsing dark energy out of which emerged a large dripping black devil-like being that almost radiated fear on those around it.  
  
Rini and Gotu` staggered back in fright, holding hands tightly. Nightcrawler stood in front of them protectively. Heero watched the creature emerge, realizing by now that his bullets weren't having much effect, and that he needed a Gundam, preferably his own. Mars was holding her hands ready to blast fire at the thing at an instants notice, and Piccolo was waiting for some indication of what the thing was and what it wanted.  
  
Every eye was glued to it as it turned and, to their shock, annihilated their attacker with a gesture. Then it turned back to them. A chilling otherworldly laughter echoed around them. It looked over them once, and, as if deeming them beneath his notice, turned its attention to a space in front of them.   
  
A mass of black energy gathered to form a human shape, and suddenly Callum was before them again, writhing in agony. As his new companions watched in horror, another hollow laugh echoed the street, displaying the entity's amusement at Callum's mindless cries of pain.  
  
Before the shocked group could react, The black demon spoke for the first time. In an unnatural, low, grating voice, it addressed its oblivious captive. "You who thought to hold and control the Demon Lord of the Forces of Darkness, now suffer a fitting punishment. You will join me, my slave, to lead my Army of Darkness." Another chilling laugh echoed through the street.   
  
The black energy surrounding Callum grew so thick they could no longer see him. They could hear his piercing scream of torment however, before all went silent. The energy cleared, and he floated there, perfectly calm. He was surrounded by an energy similar to the ki familiar to the Z-Warriors, but it was a pulsing black shade identical to the demon looming behind him.   
  
His allies remained still, unsure as to what was happening. The expression on his face was wrong, out of place for the carefree optimistic youth they had come to know recently. Rei hesitantly stepped towards him, but was shoved back roughly by a silent suspicious Piccolo. She looked at him questioningly, then jerked her eyes back at Callum, as he began to laugh a cruel, heartless laugh.   
  
She pushed away Piccolo's arm, and he allowed her to step forward, facing their friend. She spoke to him, slowly, "Callum, are you OK? What happened..." She was cut off as he smiled at her, with a smile that never reached his eyes.   
  
"The one you know as Callum is no more. Only I, General of the Armies of the Dark Lord Diablos remain. I go now, to gather the demons of this realm, but take this, a parting gift from my master to those who aided the one who held him captive."  
  
As he spoke, his new master stretched forth a clawed fist, over which formed a seething sphere of dark energy. Piccolo took an involuntary step backwards, as did Rei, Gotu and Rini, for although he felt the enormous dark power radiating from it most clearly, it was blatantly obvious to anyone who could recognise it.   
  
As Callum finished, the demon launched it towards them, laughing. The shockwave of its launch hit them before the blast itself, knocking Rini and Gotu off their feet. Everyone braced themselves and jumped out of the way, but the two children were frozen in shock. Piccolo noticed the son of his pupil out of the corner of his eye, and without thinking, changed the direction of his jump to knock him out of harms way.   
  
He was too late. Impact. The explosion devastated the area, and as the smoke and dust cleared Rei stumbled to her feet in horror and despair, thinking blindly 'how will I explain this to Serena and Darien....' There was another demonic laugh and Callum and the monstrosity he called Master vanished.   
  
Rei ran towards where Rini had been crouching moments before and let out a cry of relief as the dust cleared and the two youngsters became visible, intact (if a little singed) and clinging to one another in horror. The expression on Rini's face gave Rei a pause; she had never seen such horror on the usually spirited girl's face. Then she saw the charred body in front of them. Nightcrawler had obviously teleported in at the last moment to save them, but, without time to get them away, he had simply taken the blast for them. As the group watched in sudden silence, the body of the X-man began to fade, and vanished. Within a few moments, they had effectively lost two of their companions.   
  
A few minutes later Rei was surrounded by two upset young warriors demanding to go to their 'daddies' immediately. Wordlessly Piccolo pulled out the mini-com he had been given. He answered Heero's questioning stare shortly. "We need to know what that thing that took Callum was. It's loose in the city now. His cousin might know."  
  
- - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
From her vantage point above the events, Sharol gaped in astonishment. She hadn't expected anything on this scale. Things just got better and better. She grinned. Her master would be pleased. She sensed Darien approach her from behind, and turned to face him. He was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Did you do that?" She shrugged. "Yes, I mean no, well, I'm not sure. But whatever it was, it was perfect! Come on, we've caused enough chaos here for now. I think it's time we found this Sailor Moon of yours, and paid her back for what she did to you!" Giving one last look to the destruction behind them, the two left the scene.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
In a warehouse at the other side of town, time unpaused, and Freiza looked around in momentary disorientation. Then his face twisted in hate as he realized what his new 'ally' had done to him. "You will pay Kaerack, but first, I want revenge on Goku, and that purple haired kid!" The kid Kaerack had identified as Trunks, Vegeta's son. Vegeta's son had killed him, how rich. Now they would all pay the price. With a frightening grin pasted across his face, he flew out of the warehouse in search of Goku or Trunks, cursing the force on the planet that made energy levels undetectable. Oh well, it was only a matter of time! He could already feel his full strength returning to him and multiplying, as Kaerack had promised. Before long, he sensed a faint power to his left, and veered towards it.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Vegeta lead the way through the deserted streets, grumbling at the presence of the weak fools who would be left behind if he flew ahead. He wanted to, as the pace was driving him crazy, but he wasn't even sure what a Gundam was, so there was no point in going on ahead. Rogue and Gambit followed a few meters behind, talking quietly. Next was Wu-Fei, who was still trying to shake the silent Michiru off his arm. Last came Aria and Trunks. Trunks was trying to persuade Aria to explain why her eyes continually changed colour, and she was grinning and refusing to answer.   
  
Everyone stopped when they heard a mini-com beep. Hastily Aria pulled it out and answered ignoring the others who gathered around to see. Vegeta leaned against a nearby building, even more irritated at the delay. The screen flickered to life and a green face appeared.   
  
"Piccolo," greeted Trunks over Aria's shoulder. Piccolo nodded wordlessly to him and looked back at the girl he had called. "We lost your cousin." He said bluntly. Aria stared at him in confusion. He explained what had happened in short clipped sentences, his face showing its usual lack of emotion. Rogue's face went white when she heard of the fate of her foster-brother. Aria shook her head in denial as Piccolo finished the story and fell silent, waiting for a response. Trunks' hand moved discretly up to rest on her shoulder in support as she stammered, "Diablos, it has to be... But how? Callum wouldn't have released him. He must have escaped, and Callum..." She shook her head again as if to rid herself of such thoughts, and a look of determination crossed her delicate features.  
  
"Send me your co-ordinates, I'm coming to meet you!" she announced. "Do you know how to stop this thing?" Heero demanded from the background of her screen. She hesitated before nodding, as she thought silently "Yes, I know how to stop him, but it will not come to that. I won't let it. There has to be another way!"  
  
Within moments, she had the co-ordinates on her screen, and turned to go. Trunks followed her. "I'm coming too. I can get you there much faster." She gave him a small worried smile as the others wished them luck and continued determinedly towards their own goal. Then, Aria shrieked in surprise as Trunks swept her into his arms, and launched into flight, grinning at the look of shock on her face.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Setsuna, Warren and Gohan found their friends on the roof of a building near the one where Serena had located the two missing scouts. The groups arrived at about the same time, and briefly filled each other in on the events of the past 24 hours. Setsuna pulled Serena aside and asked her where Darien was, and why she had left without saying a word. Serena apologized, but refused to explain her actions or Darien's whereabouts.   
  
Those who could fly discretely scouted the area, and narrowly avoided being detected by the 'Mobile Doll Sentinel thingys' as Bobby called them. They were everywhere. Remembering the strength of the enhanced metal they were built from, Goten secretly hoped that one of their friends with a Gundam showed up pretty quickly. He'd fight one if he had to, but he figured the pilots were better suited to that kind of combat. The guy who was controlling them had obviously protected them against his attacks to an extent.   
  
Any thoughts however of waiting for their friend's arrivals however vanished as a high pitched scream pierced the air around the building. They looked at each other wordlessly for a moment, and flew or were carried through the nearest window of the building. The rescue had begun.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Duo grinned at the memory and Lita laughed aloud as he recounted the slightly exaggerated tale. "No seriously! We were in the office, and the nurse takes out a needle, and Heero put a gun to her head. Must have thought the school health board was trying to drug him or something. So there we were, trying to keep a low profile, and the next thing we know, this lady is screaming at the top of her voice that someone's trying to kill her. Then we vanished and came here. I'd love to see the face of whoever found her in an empty room screaming about disappearing students with guns."   
  
Lita and Jubilee doubled over laughing at the idea, and Krillin and Goku, who were walking behind them, grinned. Spirits were high, and they were only a half mile away from the Gundam. If all went well, they'd be back with the others in no time.   
  
Finally they arrived at the warehouse that was transmitting the signal. Breathless, Cuo pushed open the doors, and sighed in disappointment as he saw Nataku, and not Deathscythe. Oh well, he would continue searching. His expression brightened as he thought of what Wu-man's reaction to this would be. Probably something like "You are not worthy to pilot Nataku!" This could be fun after all. He pushed the doors open fully and the others followed him in. Lita and Jubilee looked at the looming Mobile Suit in awe.  
  
"Is that your Gundam?" asked Jubilee enthusiastically. "Nah," he replied with a grin. "That's Nataku, Deathscythe's much cooler! But until I can show it to you, you guys wanna see Nataku up close?"  
  
- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Vegeta's patience was put to the ultimate test when, about half an hour after his son's departure, another mini-com beeped and his four companions stopped to answer. Muttering a string of Saiyjin swear words under his breath, he leaned against a wall and wish he was home with plenty of food. Prince of the Saiyjins should not have to go 24 hours without food. In truth, no Saiyjin should.   
  
It was Wu-Fei's mini-com. Shrugging the persistent Michiru who had been glued to his side all morning; he pulled it out and answered it. He had been shrugging off Michiru all morning. Duo would probably laugh at him. A beautiful woman hanging off his shoulder and he was pushing her away. He couldn't help it. Anyway. It didn't seem like she was acting in character. The death of her friend had obviously hit her hard. The last thing he needed was an emotionally traumatized woman clinging to him. Quickly Duo's grinning image sprung to life on the screen.   
  
"What do you want, Maxwell?" he demanded. Du simply grinned. He was going to enjoy this. "I have a surprise for ya Wu-Man!" he exclaimed happily.  
  
"Don't call me....." Wu-Fei broke off his angry retort as Duo tilted the screen to reveal his 'surprise'. Behind him stood Wu-Fei's pride and joy. "Nataku!" he exclaimed. Duo began to speak but before he had gotten two words out his fellow pilot interrupted him impatiently. "Where are you?"  
  
"Don't worry Wu-Man, you don't have to come get it, I'll bring it to you, and then you can help me find Deathscythe! We'll meet you right where you are in about an hour. I'll shrink Nataku, and Goku, Krillin and Storm say they can fly us to you in no time!"  
  
It took Wu-Fei a moment to realize what Duo was saying. "SHRINK??? What the hell are you trying to do to my Gundam? If you even touch Nataku I'm going to..."  
  
Thinking of the Gundam Grand Tour he had just given his new friends, Duo immediately assumed his 'Who-me?-I'd-never-do-that' expression. Wu-Fei saw right through it and felt his face go red. Seeing this, Duo's eyes widened, in a speedy voice he announced "Gotta go now stay where you are bye!!!" With that his image disappeared.   
  
Wu-Fei was silent for a moment, then even Vegeta gave a start as he exploded. "Maxwell I'm going to KILL YOU!!"  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
A few blocks away Freiza's excellent hearing picked up a voice that sounded like it was being broadcast over a communicator. "...and Goku, Krillin and Storm say they can fly us to you in no time..."   
  
He grinned evilly. So Goku was coming here to meet his friends? Perhaps it was time to leave that surprise Freiza had been planning before that Trunks guy had killed him. With a malicious laugh, Freiza flew towards where the voice was coming from. "Lets just see how Goku likes finding the bloody corpses of his friends, shall we..."  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Duo's hand unconsciously rested behind his head as he examined the shiny new button he had discovered in Nataku's cockpit with uncertainty. He glanced over at Goku and Krillin. "Are you absolutely sure it's not a self destruct switch or something, cause that's Heero's specialty, not mine!"  
  
Said warriors shrugged and reassured him again that   
Yes they recognised the symbol on the button,  
Yes it was the Capsule Corp logo,  
Yes the Capsule Corp shrank things, and  
No, they didn't (usually) blow up.  
  
Storm added calmly that the adjustment to the Gundam had probably been made by Alron, and he would have no reason to include something counter-productive in the Gundam.   
  
Grateful that he could test the new upgrade on Nataku before risking Deathscythe, Duo shrugged fatalistically and pushed the button in question, before jumping down and standing at a safe distance. When all that was left was a small capsule, he stared in wide-eyed amazement. "Well whaddya know. It actually worked!!" Picking up the now travel-sized Gundam, he crossed his fingers that he would be able to get it back to normal for Wu-Fei before his fellow pilot blew a fuse. He signaled to the others that he was ready to leave, and, grinning at the image of Wu-Fei literally blowing a fuse, with steam and sparks flying out of his head, he followed the others out into the open.   
  
Within minutes they were underway. Storm's wind easily carried her and her fellow X-man Wolverine above the deserted streets, Goku flew with two hands held tightly in his (Lita and Duo's, who were both enjoying the ride enormously), and Krillin had little trouble with the added weight of Jubilee. They made good time, hoping to be reunited with their companions quickly.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Trunks landed and set Aria gently to the ground, promising himself to take her flying again when this was all over and she could enjoy it. Quick greetings were made all round, and the events surrounding Callum's departure were again described. Aria's face was pale as she listened, and her eyes changed to a haunting gray color.   
  
When they had finished, she explained to the best of her ability what a 'Guardian Force' was, how to acquire one, and how to use it. She then briefly told the story of the near impossible capture of Diablos, and his legendary power over Demon hordes.   
  
There was silence for a moment while everyone digested the new information. Heero was the first to come to the obvious conclusion. "Why can't you just bind him again?" She shook her head. "I did a lot of personal study into Guardian Forces while in the Garden. I don't think you can bind one that is already bound to another. Since he was able to control Callum," a note of pain crept into her voice. "I think they must still be connected in some way. Right now the only one with the ability to contain him is Callum."  
  
Nobody felt it necessary to reply that if the now-evil Callum was all that stood in the way of containing the monster, there were ways of dealing with him.   
  
Rei made the next helpful suggestion. "Why don't you call him, on his mini-com. I bet he doesn't even remembered it's there." Aria shrugged. They were obviously still underestimating the power of Diablos, even his cousin and best friend probably would not be enough to bring back Callum. However, anything was worth a try, and right now the little section of her brain labelled 'plan-making' was out of order.   
  
She walked a little away from the others, seeking privacy for her task. Bracing herself for anything, she sent through the call to Callum. A few moments later, he appeared on the screen. All the carefree laughter she remembered was gone from his eyes, now cold, and gleaming with cruelty. His ready smile was twisted into a malicious grin. Aria was suddenly not only afraid for him, but of him as well. Taking a beep breath to steady her racing heart, she spoke first.  
  
"Callum, is that you?" His eyebrow raised. "I am he who was once known as Callum. You, I believe, were once a companion of mine. Why do you contact me now?" He seemed so calm and collected that she didn't know what to say. She wasn't given time to think of something. He answered his own question. "Oh, you wished to rescue me, no?" His tone grew mocking. "I am in no need of your help. You however will shortly need help yourself. The Dark Lord wishes to annihilate you and your companions. Humanity has no place in his demonic empire. Your pathetic hopes of recovering the weak idiot you once called 'friend' have just given me the means of finding you all. I had completely forgotten it" He tapped the screen meaningfully, and at the look of horrified realisation of her mistake made him burst into a vicious laughter that was positively chilling when heard coming from the mouth of her own cousin."  
  
She began to grow desperate. "Callum this isn't you! Fight him I know you can! Please. We need you!" He looked amused at her pleas, but she redoubled her efforts. If only she could get through to the real Callum...  
  
His patience only lasted so long. After a few minutes of her futile appeals to his non-existent 'good side', he decided to show her just how 'good' he really was. Interrupting her mid-sentence, he began to describe to her in detail exactly what he had in store for each of her new companions, and herself. He spared no details, and graphically described every image. Some of the tortures he had planned were so exotic and horrible she didn't even understand them, such as the one he had in mind for her after she watched all the others die. The other ones, which he described with relish, made her stomach churn, and would have done more if she had eaten in the last 24 hours.   
  
Finally Aria could listen to no more. Her cousin was truly evil. Choking at a particularly lurid description, she threw down the Mini-com, his laughter echoing mockingly at her before he terminated the link.   
  
Her companions watched as she threw down the mini-com and sank to her knees, tears streaming openly down her face. They headed towards her quickly, Rini and Gotu reaching her first and trying to cheer her up with the innocence of children. They were followed closley by Rei and Trunks. The former tried to reassure her that they'd get her cousin back somehow, and the latter glared at the now lifeless communicator as if he'd rather kill him than 'get him back'. Piccolo and Heero followed more slowly, and simply waited for her to tell them the results.   
  
Aria was simply staring at the ground, the horrible deaths he had described ringing through her head. Within a few moments, Rei, who had little tolerance for tears, lost her patience. "Come on! Get over it and tell us what happened! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!"  
  
Loss easily converted to fury, and Aria lunged at her. She would have landed a punch to knock her surprised target across the room if not for the speedy intervention of Piccolo, who grabbed her fist mid swing and looked at her silently, waiting. Trunks discreetly stepped in between the two girls, who were glaring at each other. 'So she does fight after all!' he thought, hiding a grin.  
  
Finally Aria relaxed her arm and Piccolo let go. She looked around at the others, still angry, but not at Rei. She was furious at Diablos for taking her cousin, and at Callum for letting it happen. She was still at a loss to explain how the creature had escaped in the first place.   
  
"I couldn't get to him." She told them. "Diablos is too strong. I'm not sure how to get him back." She paused before giving them the bad news. "And he knows how to find us now that he remembers the mini-com. He can tune it in to listen to any conversation we have. He'll know where we go, who we meet, what we plan... From now on we'll have to make plans in person."  
  
There was silence while everyone considered this new development. Piccolo took command then, and announced quietly that since they would have to make all plans with the others in person from now on, they should find them and work together against the Demon creature. His decision was only minorly influenced by the fact that he was tired of playing babysitter to two children and a bunch of headstrong teens. Only Heero seemed serious enough for Piccolo, and he couldn't fight, at least not without that machine of his.   
  
Everyone agreed to his plan except Heero. Heero stated in no uncertain terms that he was going after his Gundam and no-one could stop him. He added casually the co-ordinates that they should begin their search at. He had casually hacked into someone else's conversation earlier out of boardroom, and he had heard where they had agreed to meet. Since his information was so helpful, no-one mentioned that he had been spying on his friends.   
  
Rei was ordered to go with him to help. A glare from Piccolo stopped Heero's protests. Rei looked at Rini, thinking. Then, coming to a decision, she announced to the three remaining adults in the group, "If anything happens to her, you'll answer to me!" She followed Heero, who was already heading quickly in the direction of the Gundam.   
  
Aria and Trunks watched them go silently, then Trunks turned to Piccolo. "They'll tear each other apart you know." Piccolo thought back to their earlier shouting matches and nodded. "At least I won't have to listen." They shrugged at him and headed off towards where Heero had directed them.   
  
Just as the rounded the corner at the end of the street, something sipped in and attached itself to Aria's shoulder, wrapping a long tail around her neck, chattering furiously at her. She sighed in relief at his arrival, as he had been left behind in Trunks' speedy flight here, and she had worried that he wouldn't be able to find her. She introduced Coll to and enthusiastic Rini and Gotu, and they continued on, Trunks shaking his head in resignation at its arrival. Aria would have smiled at his disgust if she was not so plagued by another thought.  
  
She didn't think she would be able to change Callum back, but the only other way to stop Diablos was to kill him.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Amy regained consciousness slowly, opening her eyes a fraction to assess her situation. Her logical mind quickly picked up several facts. She was chained to a wall. She was no longer Sailor Mercury, she must have changed back while unconscious. Her transformation pen and computer, along with Venus' pen, were on a table far from her reach. Mina was still unconscious beside her. The two alien beings were at the other side of the room, arguing. Making all these discoveries in an instant, she slid her eyes closed again to listen.   
  
"I will eat their spleens!" This was followed by crazed dual-pitched laughter.  
"No Carnage! The one who brought us here wants them alive."  
"But they are guilty aren't they?" The voice took on a persuasive tone.  
"There are no innocent on this world."  
"Then do they deserve to live?" It was obvious that this voice didn't really care what they deserved.  
"No, only the innocent deserve to live. If the one that brought us here wanted them, he would have come for them by now. We have changed our mind. Venom hungers for blood!"  
  
At that bloodthirsty statement, Amy opened her eyes another crack, and saw the two hulking monstrosities looming over her hungrily. Mina slept on oblivious. Unable to move, and without the ability to transform without her pen, she did the only thing left she could think of. She opened her mouth and screamed as loudly and fearfully as she could.   
  
Amazingly her scream had the desired effect. Moments later seven of her friends smashed through the window, ready to fight. She immediately recognised Serena and Setsuna, and Bobby, Sam and Goten, and to the best of her knowledge the other two were named Warren and Gohan. She broke off mid-scream with a sigh of relief.   
  
The two Symbionts turned in fury, and seeing the girls would-be rescuers, they lept at them, and the battle began. Not taken by surprise this time, and now aware of the creatures' speed, Goten powered up and intercepted one of them mid-air. They began trading blows so fast it was difficult to follow. Bobby and Sam engaged the other, while Gohan rushed across the room to the two captive girls.   
  
He easily crushed the chains, and Amy jumped down. Mina was still unconscious so he caught her when she fell, and carried her quickly back to the others. Serena saw Amy and Mina's stuff. She quickly hid Mina's until her friend woke up, and threw Amy's pen and computer at her. Amy caught them mid air and began her transformation.   
  
Meanwhile Goten was doing pretty well against the first creature, being faster and stronger. Iceman and Cannonball were having difficulty though. Pulling back a bit Cannonball called urgently, "Ms Pluto? I think now's a good time for some o' that noise o' yours!"  
  
With a slight nod Pluto held out her staff and cried, "Pluto Deadly SCREAM!!!" Her face immediately began showing the strain of dragging out the length of her usually instantaneous attack, and her companions winced at the discordant resonance. The effect it had on the two battling Symbionts however, was much more drastic.   
  
With shrill screeches, the two creatures raised their hands to their ears, as their skin seemed to pull off partially from their bodies revealing two human forms beneath. The writhing Symbionts remained partially attached to their hosts, even in agony unwilling to let go.   
  
Sailor Moon gasped when she saw the human skin under the oozing things. They were people? But she was supposed to protect people, not hurt them! She remembered all the people Queen Beryl's generals had used against her, and how she had healed them. Without ant conscious decision, she held out her sceptre, crying "Moon, Healing, ACTIVATION!"  
  
Light shone forth from the sceptre held before her, and with an agonised wailing sound, the black and red blobs were forced out of the two bodies and landed o the floor, a few feet away from where their hosts bodies lay. They immediately moved to reattach themselves, as Pluto's grating noise faded away, but without bodies they were too slow.   
  
Gohan, after gently putting down the girl he was carrying, joined his brother. They nodded once at each other, and together, pulled their hands back to their waists.   
  
"Kaaaa..."  
"Kaaaa..."  
  
"Meee..."  
"Meee..."  
  
"Haaa..."  
"Kaaa..."  
  
"Meee..."  
"Meee..."  
  
"Haaaaa!!!!" they shouted in unison.  
  
In their weakened state the two symbionts were vaporized by the two blinding rays of light. However so was all the infrastructure in the general vicinity. The building rumbled threateningly. With wide eyes everyone fled back out the window, the flight-capable ones carrying their grounded companions.   
  
As they neared the ground, the building collapsed, and, probably due to some long-unused gas pipe or oil-tank, it exploded loudly and impressively. Their landings became crashes as the force of the explosion pushed them ungracefully towards the ground. Landing in an undignified heap, they all looked at the burning buildings in shocked awe.   
  
Suddenly Sailor Moon struggled to her knees, oblivious to Archangel's surprised grunt of pain as she knelt on one of his wings. "You guys we left those two men in the building!!" She looked about to cry at her failure to save them.   
  
Goten jerked quickly out from under the dizzy Iceman, who had landed on top of him, freezing him. He shivered and shook his head. "Nope. They were dead after the creatures separated. Not even a normal human's ki. Shock must've killed 'em. Damnit Bobby that's FREEZING!!" Gohan nodded, affirming that the two men were dead, while Bobby grinned up at his friend, unfreezing to his normal state. "Yup, but at least you broke my fall!"  
  
Sailor Moon thought for a moment about the two men she had killed accidentally by trying to heal them. "Oops..." she said slowly, before landing unceremoniously on her face as Warrens patience ran out and he pulled his aching wing out from under her knees.   
  
Gohan and Goten looked up at the burning building that they had accidentally destroyed. "Oops..." they echoed.  
  
Cannonball stumbled to his feet, still holding the unconscious Mina, whom he had grabbed in their hasty flight from the building. Sailor Pluto leaned on her time-staff and pulled herself to her feet, still tired from her efforts. Soon they were all standing, looking at each other. Grins broke out all round, as they realized that they had succeeded.   
  
However their elation was short-lived as a sudden metallic voice echoed down the street. "Mutants detected. Mission: Destroy."  
  
The nine companions fell into battle stances with a speed gained only by experience. A quick glance around told them that they were completely surrounded. There was no need to wonder how they had been found. Goten looked at the destroyed building and repeated his earlier comment, "Oops...". His expression showed clearly however that he was looking forward to the opportunity to prove to his friends that he could have won if they had stayed and fought the night before.   
  
His companions however were more cautious. The scouts had never faced a giant robot before, and one of the four of them was still unconscious. The X-men for their part were justifiably wary of the sentinels, especially now that they had been crossed with killing-machines called 'Mobile Dolls' from the Gundam world.   
  
With no other option, they were about to attack when someone jumped from the roof above and landed lightly beside them. In their tense state of mind they almost assaulted him before recognizing him as Quatre. He looked at them with a smile. "Hey guys, I've found the Gundam!"  
  
They looked at him skeptically, seeing no evidence of anything that could combat the Mobile Doll Sentinels. He showed them the small capsule in his hand, but it just confused most of them, although Gohan's voice was heard muttering "Capsule Corp Technology?"   
  
Smiling, Quatre flicked something on the capsule and threw it to the ground in the space before them. Within seconds, it had expanded into a massive Mobile Suit. His friends jaws hung open in awe. After all, it was huge.   
  
The 'Mobile Doll Sentinels were getting dangerously close. Quatre gave one last look at the hulking monstrosity before him, wishing he had found his own Sandrock instead of Duo's Gundam. Deathscythe looked too much like a personification of death for Quatre's taste. Shrugging, he climbed quickly up into it. He was a Gundam pilot and it was a Gundam. That was all that was important, and his friends needed help.  
  
The Gundam started moving slowly towards the approaching Mobile Doll Sentinels, swinging it's scythe a few times while Quatre got used to it's weight and balance. Gohan and Goten started to follow enthusiastically, but they were stopped as another shape jumped down from the roof above them.   
  
"Beast!" exclaimed Bobby in greeting. "What took ye so long?" "Well, my impetuous young friend, we ran into some difficulty with a stubborn group of demons." Was the reply. The Son brothers started to go around the blue furry body between them and the action, but he put up a hand to stop them. "Quatre asked me to implore you to remain on the sidelines for this particular battle. His Gundam is best equipped to deal with this adversary, however he would find it difficult to fight and avoid injuring his companions himself if you were to fly in there yourselves."  
  
Looking at Quatre as he engaged the first few Mobile Doll Sentinels (MDS's), it was easy to understand why. The Gundam was a killing machine, moving quickly and efficiently, and leaving behind a smoking trail of destroyed MDS's as it moved. Gohan and Goten nodded, but still watched the battle, eagerly waiting for a chance to help.   
  
For every MDS Deathscythe's Thermal Scythe sliced down, it seemed another took its place, but from the confidant movements of the Gundam, it seemed to the onlookers that Quatre had everything under control. Inside however, Quatre's thoughts were the opposite. "There are just too many of them. I can't stop them all alone. They're so much more powerful that the Mobile Dolls I've fought before! If only the others were here. We could do it together. But it's just me and I have to protect my friends. If I can just lead most of them away...then maybe I could Self Detonate, and take them with me. It would give the others a chance to escape...I have no choice." With grim determination he judged he was far enough away from his companions, and took the self-destruct switch in his hand. "Duo is going to kill me for this...Goodbye guys..."  
  
Just as he was about to end it, a flash of colour drew his attention to the screen, to see Wing Gundam swooping down from above and transforming as it hit the ground. "Heero...?"  
  
A small window opened in the corner of the screen before him, accompanied by a familiar voice, "Duo?" Quatre dropped the switch and jumped to answer. "No Trowa it's me! I found Deathscythe when I followed my signal." He swung the scythe to split open a MDS that got too close. Trowa's voice came back across the speaker. "Yes. I found Wing Gundam the same way. Need help?"   
  
As he spoke, the hatch of Trowa's Gundam opened slightly and a girl Quatre had never seen before jumped out. It was hard to tell from this distance, but he thought she looked about 18, with similar hair to Sailor Saturn. She jumped down lightly and ran speedily away from the Gundam towards to group watching from the cover of the nearby building. When she was safely away from him, Trowa turned to face the MDSs, which had stopped to assess this new threat.   
  
Thoughts of self-destructing fled Quatre's mind, and he immediately rallied to join his friend and back to back they managed to begin driving back their attackers. Their allies on the ground watched breathlessly as slowly the numbers of the MDS's began to dwindle. Deathscythe sliced town two in one swipe. Wing Gundam destroyed another. Then, before they realized what was happening, there were no more, and the two Gundams stood majestically in the empty street, looking around for any remaining enemies. There were none.   
  
They quickly exited the Gundams, and rejoined their friends. Quatre showed Trowa the use for the Capsule Corp switch that had been added to the Gundams, presumably by Alron. Within moments, the group were fleeing the scene to avoid being discovered after the big scene they had caused. They traveled fast, with the now travel-sized Gundams carried by the pilots.   
  
When they judged they were far enough away from the scene of the battle to be safe, the big group found a safe house and retreated into it to rest. It was a modest house in a small estate, that looked as if it would have been quiet even if there were people still living there. The still unconscious Mina was laid out across the couch to recover, and the others split up into groups to discuss the happenings of the last twenty four hours.   
  
A few minutes after they arrived all the energy that had helped Serena rescue her friends drained out of her. They were safe now, and there was nothing left to distract her. The dull pain at the back of her mind began to throb. "He's gone. He left you. He doesn't love you. He loves her. He's gone. He left you..." The monologue in her mind became too overwhelming and she discretely slipped out of the room with the others and went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to be alone.   
  
Finally safe and in private, she was able to express her grief fully, and curled up at the foot of the bed, crying her heart out. When there were no more tears left to shed, and the pain had become a dull throb, her thoughts began to wonder. "But why? We rule Neo-Tokyo together. We've been there and seen ourselves! Well at least we saw a ghost or hologram or something of Darien, but he was there! Wasn't he? Did the fact that I saw an apparition mean that he was really there? Or was it just a creation to let Rini know what her father was like... Where did that thought come from? Rini! That was it! Darien and I have done NOTHING yet that could possibly lead to the birth of Rini, so we MUST be together in the future, since Rini was still around. Rei would have send word if something was wrong......So I get Darien back? He will love me again?"  
  
For some reason that thought didn't fill her with the hope she had expected. She wondered why for a moment before arriving at the question at the heart of the matter. Did she love him? Sure he was good looking. Sure he was a nice guy. Sure having a boyfriend made all her friends jealous. Sure she was destined to be with him. Sure she had loved him more than anything when she was the gentle regal graceful Princess of the Moon Kingdom in her past life. But as her friends would testify, she had so little in common with that "graceful" princess now that it was hard to believe she and Serenity were the same person. And was he really the person she wanted to spend the rest of her long, long life with?   
  
Suddenly all the faults she had subconsciously ignored came to the surface. He was condescending. He had once cancelled a date and told her to go and study! He was very restrained, and never showed affection in public. It was almost as if he was ashamed of her. Even in private the most she got was a quick brotherly kiss. They were destined to be together, but was that the only reason she was with him? Forced to consider it like that, she wasn't sure. And had Darien really loved her or did he just want to be King? Again where did that thought come from?  
  
Sitting at the end of the bed she hugged her knees and stared aimlessly at the wall for a while. She couldn't tell how long she sat there before she heard the door behind her open quietly to let someone in. She swung around in surprise.   
  
Goten stood outside the door indecisively for a moment. She seemed so upset earlier, he guessed she had come up here to be alone, but he didn't like the thought of her all alone and unhappy. At least that's what he told himself. Who was he kidding? The truth was that he couldn't stop thinking about her and he needed to get to know her before they returned home. This might be his only chance. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and unlike any girl she had ever met. She was so courageous and loyal to her friends. And her eyes were so deep...   
  
He shrugged. Waiting would change nothing. His mind was made up... He quietly turned the handle and went in. The slender figure sitting on the bed swing around to regard him with wide eyes. She looked like she had been crying only a short while ago. When she recognized him she graced him with a small sad smile. He was still unsure as to what had happened between her and the tall guy she had been with, but seeing her expression he promised himself that if it was bad, when he saw him again there would be violence....   
  
He walked over and sat beside her. "Are you OK?" I saw you go off on your own and thought you might like some company." He gave her an encouraging grin, forgetting all earlier uncertainties.   
  
Serena gazed at him for a moment, touched by his concern. So soon after realizing that she didn't really love Darien in any way other than as a brother, she couldn't help comparing him to the black-haired boy before him. Goten was muscular where Darien was slender. He was lively where Darien was restrained, adventurous where Darien was quiet, respectful where Darien was condescending. In stark contrast to Darien's close-mouthed privacy she could read the emotions flitting across Goten's face every few moments like a book. His eyes held a playful gleam and he was undeniably good looking.   
  
She noticed he was grinning and realized she had been staring. Blushing, she answered his question. "I'm OK. I'm just worried about...... a friend...... who has turned against us. I don't understand why, but I know something's wrong. I'm going to find him and help him somehow." As if saying it had clarified everything for her, she suddenly smiled. "But company would be great!"  
  
He looked at her for a moment. Her sudden spontaneous smile rendered her so beautiful that he was made painfully aware how soon she would be going back to her world. Giving into instinct, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. After a moments shock she pushed back passionately. She only had a few moments to think, "Darien never kissed like THIS" before all coherent thought was washed away. He wrapped his arms around her and silence reigned...  
  
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If Vegeta had to wait for that idiot Kakarott any longer someone would die. He honestly didn't care who as long as he got to vent his frustration and impatience. It was fifteen minutes since that pilot kid had told them to wait. Kakarott must be taking his time. Damn him...  
  
He looked around at his pathetic "group". The two X-men, Rogue and Gambit, were flirting outrageously but thankfully quietly across the street. A bit away the kid Wu-Fei was still trying to shrug the green haired Sailor off his arm. None of them was even worthy of being called weak. They were pathetic. So why was he staying with them? Suddenly his patience snapped. That was it. There was no reason for the Prince of the Saiyjins to be sitting here with these people waiting for that third-class Warrior to show. He was leaving. He gathered his Ki to take off, when he suddenly sensed a familiar and despised presence nearby. He swung his head around just in time to see Freiza float calmly out from behind a building.   
  
Vegita's face screwed up in hate, and he clenched his fists in anticipation. Freiza had no idea what he had gotten himself in for this time... One by one his companions noticed something was wrong and turned around to face the new-comer.   
  
Slowly Vegita began to speak. "I'm a Super Saiyjin now. Your time is up!" Freiza laughed. "Super Saiyjin? You? I seem to have heard that before, right before I killed you!" Vegeta let out an inarticulate yell of fury and launched himself at his old tormentor. Freiza leapt to intercept him, and their action became a blur to his companions.  
  
Every few seconds a quick flash would alert his concerned companions as to his whereabouts, or the crash of stone as the combatants smashed into a building. Taken completely by surprise at the attack, they watched in helpless shock a battle their yes couldn't follow, as the streets around them were reduced to rubble.  
  
Without any warning the two broke apart, becoming again visible to the onlookers. "Ha!" mocked vegita, breathing heavily. "I had heard you were back but I thought that spawn of Kakarott must be seeing things. Last time I saw you, you were being sliced apart by a young boy!"   
  
"And the last time I saw YOU," retorted Freiza, struggling to remain calm, "You were pouring memories of your 'painful childhood' out to that same Kakarott, right before you died fighting me.. Then too, you were deluding yourself into thinking you were a Super Saiyjin!" He laughed cruelly.  
  
Throughout the speech Vegita's face had become twisted with rage, but far from driving him over the edge, the last comment calmed him down, as a smirk crossed his features. "There's something you don't realize now Freiza...I AM a Super Saiyjin now!" He let out an inarticulate yell, and bright Ki rushed up around his body. His hair turned blonde and stood on end, and he glared smugly at Freiza with chilling green pupils as his power levels went through the roof.   
  
Freiza stopped breathing for a moment in mindless terror, seeing in the golden warrior before him a reflection of the the Super Saiyjins who had defeated and killed him before. He regained self-control again as he recalled the immeasurable increase in his own powers, and he attacked Vegita with a vengeance. The time for holding back was over. It was time to win.   
  
The two warriors became again too fast for the eye to follow, both fighting to the utmost of their ability. After another ten tense minutes the onlookers caught sight of them in the air above them again just on time to see Freiza's hands stretch out before him. Vegita's voice could be heard gasping "No! It can't be....I'm a..." From between Freiza's raised hands came a narrow beam of Ki that blasted through Vegita's chest, ramming him to the ground across the street from his horrified team-mates. "...a Super-Saiyjin......" he finished as light faded from his eyes. Somewhat uncharacteristically his last coherent thought was , "I lost? How will I explain this to Bulma? Kami no... He'll go after Trunks next......"  
  
The others were stopped from going to help by Freiza, who landed between them and the dying Saiyjin Prince. He glared at them in contempt.   
  
Rogue pulled off her gloves discreetly. "That's it, you're goin' down!" she drawled in a heavy southern accent laden with rage. She jumped suddenly and came hurtling towards him, arms outstretched and seeking skin. Freiza was momentarily shocked, not expecting the weak fools with Vegita to think of themselves as warriors. His hesitation was just long enough for her hands to hit skin, as Gambit shouted "NO Chére! DON'T!"  
  
He was right. Moments into the energy absorption Rogue let out an unearthly scream of agony and let go, clutching her head. Gambit leapt forwards to help him, followed by Wu-Fei and Sailor Neptune, who had just finished her transformation. Before they reached her however she drew her hands back down again revealing a terrifying new expression. Her face was twisted in hate, with crazed eyes dilated in madness. As had happened her on occasion before, she had been completely overwhelmed as the personality of her victim took over completely.  
  
"Rogue! Are you OK Chére?" Gambit demanded in concern. Her answer was chilling. "I am LORD FREIZA!! I am here to DESTROY Goku and Trunks and everything they care about! I will have my vengeance!!" With that she launched into the air and began gathering Ki in an identical manner to Freiza moments before.   
  
Freiza, who had not moved since being touched by Rogue, widened his eyes slightly. The cogs were almost visibly turning in his brain as he realized that the puny creature actually believed that she was him, and now even her ki signature felt like his... An evil grin twisted his features. This was just PERFECT! He shouted up to her, "Goku is coming to this place, and these are his friends!" The girl's eyes jumped to her three companions with an expression bordering on manic glee. "Then they will DIE!"  
  
Her first blast was aimed at the man below her, who was shouting frantically at her to "Stop Chére!" Only his lightning quick reflexes saved him, and it was followed by a volley of ki that had him on the retreat immediately. A tsunami of water poured at her, Sailor Neptune's Deep Submerge Attack. For her efforts Neptune was subsequently smashed back into a wall where she lay motionless. Wu-Fei ran to stand before her defensively, shooting rapidly at Rogue in futile fury.   
  
In Freiza's opinion, while the girl's powers were nothing compared to the real Freiza, she had stolen enough to make her easily capable of annihilating the other three. He watched for a while, enjoying the carnage and the delicious irony, but as soon as he was certain of the outcome, he faded unnoticed into the shadows and flew off.   
  
He could confront Goku later. First let him find this surpise. And maybe even a few more. What was it that idiot Vegita had said? "I thought that spawn of Kakarott must be seeing things."? So that little brat was Goku's son? Well if he didn't find Trunk soon, Goku's son would do to keep him occupied. He let out a peal of chilling laughter and sped off. Behind him, blood and chaos reigned.   
  
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Oblivious to their companions' distress, at the other side of the city a very relieved group was celebrating their successful rescue-attempt in a comfortable safe-house. A veritable feast of food had been found and laid out on a table. Mina had finally come around, and Bobby and Sam were again busy vying companionably for her attention, much to her delight.   
  
Beast was seated comfortably by the cheerful fire with a large hard-back volume on Philosophy, which he had found on the well-stocked bookshelf. Seated opposite him on the sofa were Trowa and Hotaru, conversing contentedly in quiet voices. To Quatre, who noticed him from across the room, it appeared he was saying more to her than he had said to his fellow pilots ever. Quatre smiled, happy for his friend, and turned back to the game of chess he had challenged Amy to. To both of their delight, they were an even match for one another and they were thoroughly enjoying both the game and one another's company.   
  
At the food table Warren and Setsuna were smiling to one another at the memory of everyone's incredulous reactions to Hotaru's new age. Gohan was happily helping himself to the food with a level of enthusiasm that can only be reached by one of Saiyjin blood. He idly wondered where his brother was, and what was so much more important that food, but finally he realized the girl with the odangos was also absent, and grinned widely. Oh well. All the more food for him.   
  
The scouts in the room had also noticed their princess's absence, and, still unsure of what had occurred earlier, they glanced worriedly at each other from across the room. Knowing however that Goten had already followed her upstairs, presumably to cheer her up, they decided to leave well alone and see if he succeeded.   
  
Everyone was so relaxed that when a mist appeared suddenly in the center of the room and gathered into the imposing form of Alron, they were taken totally off guard, and only stared in shock. He looked just as impressive and insubstantial as before, and wrapped in the folds of his robe was a very young shy boy. Unlike Alron however, the child looked very real, and to many of the surprised inhabitants of the room he looked strangely familiar.   
  
They were given no chance to speak before Alron's voice rang out in it's peculiar otherworldly quality. "I have come to give you some aid and advice in your quest. It has come to my attention that the one you know as Darien has been taken control of by a powerful psychic. He now believes you are his enemies. He and his new master are formidable opponents, and have already used his companion's mind manipulation to unleash a monstrosity upon this world to throw against you. Unlike your other enemies they will avoid confrontation, and pick you off one at a time.   
"You cannot afford the loss of even one of your allies. You will need them all in the times to come. Your best hope is to win the Prince Darien back to your side and destroy his psychic friend.   
  
"In the hope of aiding you in this task, I have brought to you one who may aid him in recalling his true self. His mind has already been turned against Sailor Moon and her daughter Rini, who are present, but the psychic who controls him has no blocks up against Sailor Moon's Son, Garion, who she could not know of."  
  
Pandemonium broke loose as everyone started speaking at once.   
"Sailor Moon has a son?"  
"Impossible, we would know!"  
"A kid he dosen't know about? How will that help?"  
"What?"  
"You say 'she could not know of'. Can you give us any information on this 'she'?"  
"You mean he's from the future like Rini?"  
"Darien is evil AGAIN?"  
"He's so cute!"  
"Why doesn't Rini know she has a brother?"  
"Would someone care to explain what's happening?"  
"Serena and Darien have a son?"  
"Ahh, could y'all explain this?"  
"What?"  
  
When Alron refused to speak, the noise slowly died down as everyone waited for him. When he finally obliged them, his response was less than satisfactory. "Yes. This is the son of Sailor Moon from the future of your timeline, whom I have brought back to help you reclaim Darien. Now my time with you is limited so I will leave him in your care. Good luck to you all." With that, he was gone, and the small boy enfolded in his robes was left clutching thin air.   
  
There was a moment of stunned silence, during which the child looked around fearfully and then squared his shoulders in brave determination. The three Sailor Scouts were just about to go to him to reassure their friend's son, when the door to the stairs opened and Goten and Serena entered the room holding hands. Serena was blushing slightly, and they both wore wide smiles. They stopped when they noticed the silence in the room.  
  
Suddenly, the little boy in the center of the room looked around, and when he saw Serena his face lit up. "Mommy!!" he cried, and abandoning shyness in the presence of this familiar face he launched himself at her exuberantly. Taken by surprise she caught him as he hugged her tightly. He began to speak excitedly to her about the strange man who had brought him here, the amazing journey he had brought him on, and how different she looked without her pretty white dress. Serena blinked, trying to absorb being called Mommy. Gohan looked on in confusion.  
  
As Garion spoke, what appeared at first glance to be a brown belt began idly unwinding from around his waist into a tail. Everyone stared at it like a snake. Amy was the first to speak. "Serena, Darien never had a...tail." Serena swung the surprised boy around and blinked again. "Who is he? Where did he come from? And if he's my child, like Rini, why does he have a tail?"  
  
Amy pulled out her computer and scanned it at him. "According to my computer he IS your son! And Rini's brother." She smiled happily for a moment, before her face fell as she read more from the information. "But Darien is NOT his father! The tail is coming from someone else..."  
  
There was another stunned silence as everyone fought to absorb this new development. Before they could react, the front door opened and in walked Rini and Gotu, followed by a serious looking Piccolo and Trunks and a miserable looking Aria. They too stopped when they noticed the strange silence. Everyone looked between the newcomer, Rini and Gotu in amazement. The resemblance was staggering. Garion had Rini's wide eyes and bouncy exuberance, and Gotu's sunny smile and spiky black hair. He also had Gotu's little brown tail.   
  
Gohan was the first to speak, as his own son ran over to him happily. "Wow. He's a mirror image of Gotu about a year ago. And he's a Saiyjin! But we're the only... Goten? Is this your...? Goten!!! What are we going to tell Mom?"  
  
Rini looked in jealous confusion at the boy in her mother's arms, as Serena and Goten blushed furiously. Garion tilted his head at them. "Mommy? Why are you and Daddy gone red?"  
  
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TBC  
  
**Evil laughter*  
  
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Ok that's it for now. :) Hope you liked. PLEASE REVIEW!!! I crave comments!!! If you have any suggestions as to what should happen yet, I haven't decided yet so suggestions would be welcome. As are any ideas for new enemies to add. I can't think of any!! Also I love emails, so If ya want, mail me!!!  
  
Yes I know I'm killing off a lot of people, but fear not! I'm a sucker for a happy ending. ;)   
Anyway sorry again this took so long. My computer is still away at the workshop!! :( Anyway can't wait to hear from ye :) (hint hint)!   
  
Bye for now!!  
  
Azharia Kyrissaen  
  
  
PS   
  
GoldenGoddess ~ Sorry about Wu-Fei, but I couldn't help it. Lita and Heero are still around though!!   
  
Saiya-jin no Hime ~ Hotaru is the only one who ages 'caues she does that in the Anime. She ages when Sailor Moon is in danger. She's done it twice that I know of. At least that's what I've been told. If I'm wrong, tell me and I'll come up with another plausible reason that she's the only one. :) Thanks for review!  
  
Star~ Sorry. :( Suggestion came too late. Maybe in another fic..... :)   
  
Anyway thanks again to all who reviewed, and especially Beena, Shelly and Alexz, who reviewed more than one chapter! :)   
Ok I'll stop now....... For the time being......  



	5. The Gathering

  
I surrender!!   
**peeks out of where she was hiding from KonekoHimi's organized reader attacks**   
I surrender here's the fic!!   
  
I so sowwy I know it's been a long time coming but I been distracted! I started my Sailor   
Earth fic and it kinda took over. But ye sent me such nice reviews that I managed to get   
this done! ? Thanks! Promise the next one will be sooner! Enjoy! (Or not…)  
  
  
Chronicles of the Challenge Ch 4  
  
Heero tried to blot out the voice of the girl beside him, but it was impossible. No matter   
how hard he tried to focus on climbing through the rubble of the collapsed building   
where his Gundam was apparently hidden, he couldn't manage to ignore her voice.   
  
"Are we nearly there yet? I have to get back to my friends. They need me! I can feel it!   
Can't we go any faster?" Rei was feeling very on edge. Her 6th sense was shouting at her   
that her fellow scouts needed her, and yet she couldn't leave the strange boy beside her to   
quest alone.   
  
She couldn't figure him out. He rarely spoke except to issue orders or argue with her, and   
he was the only person she had had ever met who could irritate her more than Serena.   
And yet despite this she couldn't help feeling drawn to him. She would help him find the   
Gundam, and then they could return to the Scouts together.   
  
Soon the climbing began to become more difficult and she was forced to drop all   
thoughts except holding on. The building seemed to have partially collapsed in an   
earthquake, but all the buildings around it were in perfect condition. They had come to   
the decision that it must be the work of one of the world's larger native demons, which   
was in all likelihood long gone. The smaller ones seemed to have taken up residence   
though, and they had lost track of the number of bizarre creatures that had been charred   
by Rei or shot by Heero.   
  
Heero had decided that the signal was coming from the third story, but since the stairs   
and elevator had been destroyed, they were climbing the remains of the mineshaft. All of   
a sudden, Heero stopped above her and started pulling at something. Moments later he   
had tugged the elevator door off its tracks and it crashed down the shaft passed her,   
narrowly missing her head. Ignoring her screech of protest, Heero disappeared up through   
the door onto the third floor. She was just about to yell at him to wait when he turned and   
reached down to help her up.   
  
The hall she climbed into was dark and strewn with rubble. Heero glanced at his mini-  
com and headed wordlessly down the left side. Minutes later he shoved a broken door out   
of the way to enter a small room in relatively good condition compared to the rest of the   
room. One piece of furniture occupied the room, a small table. Heero and Rei approached   
it cautiously. There was a small solitary capsule on the center of the table.   
  
Heero consulted his mini-com again, perplexed although he showed no hint of this   
emotion to his companion. The small screen in his hand indicated that he was almost   
standing in the same spot as the Gundam, and yet there was nothing there.   
  
Shrugging fatalistically Rei picked up the small capsule. "Look at this Heero. It has   
something written on it. 'Capsule Corp: Gundam Sandrock'. Is this what we're looking   
for?"   
  
"Sandrock?" asked Heero. "That's Quatre's Gundam's name but that's not it."  
  
"Maybe it's time we contacted the others then. They might know where we should look   
next."  
  
Heero shook his head. "We can't allow Callum to discover our location. I have an idea."   
With no further explanation, he pulled out his mini-com and sat on the table tapping at   
the screen intently. For the next twenty minutes he was oblivious to his surroundings he   
was so engrossed in whatever it was he was doing.   
  
Rei was on the verge of indulging in some constructive pyromania to get his attention   
when he finally looked up and nodded in satisfaction. He hit the call button on the device.   
  
Rei almost exploded. He had obviously done something to the device to make it safe to   
call the others, but he hadn't even made an attempt to explain to her what was going on.   
He was DELIBERATELY keeping her in the dark. Here she was, abandoning her friends   
to help him in his search, because she didn't want him to be alone in this world, and he   
didn't even respect her enough to treat her as a teammate, let alone an equal.   
  
In fury, she began shouting at him, insulting on his intelligence, his dress sense, his   
attitude, his complete lack of the Gundam he had been sent to find, and anything else that   
cropped into her mind. She was well used to insulting Serena, and found she had a virtual   
reservoir of insults waiting to be used.   
  
Heero allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk at getting the reaction from her that he had   
wanted, and looked back at the screen. Rei was so busy ranting that she didn't even notice   
the screen of Heero's mini-com come to life as the call went through.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
  
"Over there!" Shouted Duo over the sound of the wind, gesturing with the hand that Goku   
wasn't using to carry him. "Around that corner!"  
  
"We're there?" asked Lita, dangling from Goku's other hand. Goku swerved down and   
landed on the street, followed by their other companions.   
  
Krillin raised a brow at Duo, who pointed round the corner, crossing his fingers that the   
others would be there. He had been appointed the navigator of the group, and if he had   
led them on a wild goose chase he was in trouble.   
  
They set off to walk around the corner. Duo and Lita rounded the corner first, and   
stopped dead in their tracks, jaws dropping in horror. Seeing their expressions, the others   
rushed to see what was wrong.   
  
There was a long moment of shocked silence. Storm was the first to speak. "By the   
Goddess, no......"  
  
As if she had broken a spell with her words, everyone suddenly rushed forward towards   
the horror scene facing them. Bodies of their comrades were strewn around the street,   
covered in blood, amidst a battleground reduced to rubble.   
  
Within moments they had confirmed them all dead. Wufei lay where he had fallen in   
front of the body of Michiru, who he seemed to have protected to the last. Vegita had   
been half buried by rubble, and Gambit lay in a crumpled heap at the side of the street.   
Trunks, Aria and Haruka were no-where to be seen. It was a nightmarish sight.   
  
Jubilee collapsed to her knees in tears, and Lita looked away rubbing her eyes. Duo knelt   
over the body of his friend. "I'm so sorry Wu-Man. I should have been here. I should   
have gotten your Gundam here sooner. I'm sorry. I'll find who-ever did this, and I'll make   
them pay. And I promise I'll take care of Nataku." He sat in silence beside his fallen   
teammate silently for a while, unable to believe that after all they had survived through   
together, one of them was now dead, along with many of their newer friends. Their quest   
was suddenly not a game anymore.   
  
"Who could have done this?" Asked Goku through his teeth, clenching his fists in fury.   
Between them the group finally forced themselves to carry their companions over to the   
unstable wall at the far side of the street, and with a little persuasion it collapsed over the   
bodies, providing them with the best burial they could manage. The sight of the rubble   
covering her fellow scout and the others caused Lita to finally break down, and Duo   
stepped closer and put his arms around her and held her while she cried.   
  
Storm, shaken, was comforting Jubilee, and Goku and Krillin were worrying about the   
members of the team whom they had not found, when a voice drew all their attention to   
above.   
  
"Goku! I, the mighty Freiza, have come for you! Prepare to die!" Everyone followed the   
familiar voice to see a figure hovering in the air nearby.   
  
"Rogue!!" exclaimed Storm in recognition. Realizing what had happened she shook her   
head in despair. "Rogue, what have you done? What have you done?"  
  
"Freiza?" asked Goku at the same time. "She's not Freiza!" added Krillin in confusion.   
  
Wolverine extended his claws slowly, with an evil glint in his eyes. "No. But whoever   
this Freiza person is he must have been here, and she absorbed his personality. The only   
way she could still be alive while the others are dead is that Freiza let her live. There's no   
scent of an enemy on our friend's bodies, so she musta done it herself. I think you should   
introduce me to this Freiza. I'd love to have a long conversation with him, while I feed   
him the contents of his stomach piece by piece."   
  
Just then, the Rogue/Freiza got tired of waiting for a reaction of fear and terror, and   
decided to attack. She had almost reached a startled but ready Goku, when Storm stepped   
out in front of him. "Stop Rogue! Control yourself! Overcome this Freiza you have   
absorbed. It is your body! Do not hurt anyone else I beg you!"  
  
A look of confusion flitted across Rogue's eyes, and she landed and skidded to a halt.   
"Storm?" she asked tentatively. She blinked a few times, and went pale as memories   
flooded back. "Oh Storm what have ah done?" she whispered.  
  
"What happened Rogue. How did this happen?"  
  
"I am NOT Rogue! I am Freiza!! I am here to DESTROY GOKU!!" was the sudden   
yelled reply, but just as suddenly Rogue clasped her head in her hands, trembling. "No! I   
am ME! I am Rogue! Oh my god Remy what have ah done?"  
  
Shuddering all over, she suddenly launched into the air and hurtled around the corner at   
break-neck speed. Echoing back across the street, her voiced thoughts faded away with   
distance. "I am Freiza! No I am Rogue! I must KILL Goku!! No I can kill no one else. I   
am the strongest warrior in the universe. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"  
  
Storm immediately went to follow, but Wolverine held her back. "You've probably lost   
her already. I'll track her. I'll make sure she hurts no one else." Storm nodded reluctantly,   
knowing that she had little chance of finding Rogue herself. "Wolverine remember. She   
didn't cause this. Whoever attacked must have been extraordinarily powerful to have   
over-come her so much. Remember she would never have committed a massacre like   
this. She loved Remy more than anything."  
  
Wolverine nodded, already planning how to follow her. "Don't worry 'Ro. I won't hurt   
her. Hell I've done things myself in the past that I'm not proud of. I might even be able to   
help her." Without another word, he was gone at a run down the street.   
  
The rest of the company looked at one-another. Goku shook his head. "If Freiza is back,   
and strong enough to defeat Vegita, then we need backup. We have to contact the others.   
Everyone nodded in grim agreement, not eager to have to break the tragic news to them,   
and Goku nodded at Duo, who pulled out his mini-com and pushed the call button.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Back in the safe house, things were far from peaceful. There was a long moment of   
silence, which was broken by a yell. "MOMMY?? Who are you calling Serena Mommy.   
Unfortunately she's MY Mommy!!!" Rini put her hands on her hips and glared at the   
newcomer. She would never admit it, but she was actually quite attached to her mother's   
younger self, and the idea of some kid just waltzing in and replacing her was unthinkable.   
  
Mina crouched down beside her and put her arm around her shoulder. "Relax Rini. We're   
not sure who this is, but he's a friend, and we'll find out. All you have to do is be nice to   
him for a few minutes, can you?" She smiled encouragingly. Rini shook her head. "You   
have five minutes to find out who he is and what he's doing here!" She sent another glare   
in the direction of the newcomer.   
  
Meanwhile Serena was staring openmouthed at Garion. "Mommy? You're my son? But...   
But I only have one daughter in the future, Rini. And I'm married to Darien in the future!   
What do you mean?"  
  
Garion shook his head in impatience at his mother's temporary insanity. "You are my   
mommy. That's my Daddy. The man with the cloak said I had to go back in time to help   
you. Understand?" He turned his head around to look at Rini. "Is that my big sister?   
Wow! I've always wanted to meet her!" He looked at her in awe. "Lemme down. I wanna   
go talk to her!"   
  
Dazed, Serena let him down and he ran over to Rini. His sister quickly overcame her   
indignation when she realized she had just acquired a little brother who hero-worshiped   
her, and soon she, Garion and Gotu were happily involved in their own private   
conversation, accepting the oddity of the situation with a childlike innocence.   
  
Unfortunately the older members of the group had a little more difficulty coming to terms   
with the new turn of events. Luckily, other than the Gundam pilots they had all   
experienced time travel in some sense of the word, and as they were all incredibly   
adaptable, they soon managed to get over the astonishment for the most part.   
  
Respecting that there were things those involved needed to discuss, the members of the   
X-man and the Gundam group left the rest alone and went to greet the members of their   
group who had just arrived. That left Serena and Goten facing Gohan, Mina, Amy, and   
Setsuna.  
  
Setsuna was the first to speak after a long silence." Serena how did this happen? Do you   
know anything about it? Has it happened already or is it going to happen in the future? I   
know that's a hard thing to answer but we really need to know. You and Darien rule the   
Moon Kingdom together, and this could change our future."  
  
Serena blushed. "Well it sorta could have happened already." Mina's jaw dropped.   
"THAT'S what you were doing upstairs? And I was feeling SORRY for you being lonely   
up there!" She grinned and whispered aside to her friend, "Well done Serena, he's cute!"   
Goten, whose Saiyajin hearing picked this up, blushed.   
  
Amy shook her head. "I understand Setsuna's point. What about the future? We SAW it   
and you're married to Darien! What if you change the future? Rini might cease to exist!"  
  
Serena shook her head. "I'm NOT marrying Darien. I don't love him and I never have!   
I… I love… I love Goten!" Goten's face reddened even more. Gohan tilted his head   
sideways. "What do YOU think Goten?" he asked curiously.   
  
Goten mumbled quietly in a barely audible voice, already embarrassed. "I love her too."   
Gohan smiled happily. "SO what's the problem? Congratulations!" Goten gave his   
brother a quick grin, but then Serena spoke. "I intend to rescue Darien from the mind-  
controlling person who holds him. He is still my friend. But now that is all he is." Setsuna   
shook her head. "What about Small Lady? She is still here, and so the future has not been   
changed." She glanced over to where the three children played happily with Aria's new   
pet Coll, as if to reassure herself that she was still there. "How is that possible Serena.   
Have you and Darien….?"  
  
Serena glared daggers. "Would you stop with the personal questions already? Why can't   
you just leave me alone? Let's settle this once and for all. I am not going to marry Darien.   
He and I have done it ONCE, but never again. So Rini's probably already been…made.   
All we met in the future was a hologram of Darien. Could have been made just to show   
Rini what her father looked like. So the future need not have been changed. Is that   
enough?" She glared some more.   
  
There was another silence, indicating that no-one was stupid enough to pick a fight with   
her, whether because of the tall warrior standing protectively beside her or because they   
thought she was right.   
  
There was only one more question. "Ummm… Does this mean that Serena is carrying   
two different children at the same time?" Gohan asked in confusion. Serena thought for a   
moment and went pale. Luckily Setsuna was able to put her mind at rest. "Serena is the   
Princess of the Moon. She can subconsciously postpone everything for as long as she   
wants. Small Lady and Garion may not be born for years!" Serena let out a sigh of relief.   
  
Everyone drifted back together again in the center of the room. The armchairs were   
grabbed, some sat on the floor, and a few, such as Piccolo, were happier to stand. Just as   
people were about to ask the questions of where their missing friends were, unaware of   
the bad news that lay in store, Trowa's mini-com beeped.   
  
He pulled it out and answered, and Heero's expressionless face popped onto the screen.   
"We can use the mini-com's again. "He announced cryptically, speaking over the yelling   
of "You're ignoring me! Look at me this INSTANT and tell me what…" in Rei's voice.   
She cut off suddenly seeming to realize that the call had gone through.   
  
In his typical calm manner Trowa ignored the shouting and raised a brow at Heero. Of   
course as Heero could only see his other eye this was a wasted effort so Trowa tried   
again. "I didn't know we weren't supposed to use them."  
  
Heero shrugged. "Ask Aria and the rest of that group. They can explain. They're on the   
way to ye if they're not there already. Tell them I've used the network between them to   
jam Callum's device. But I have a problem here." Trowa nodded at him to continue. "I've   
arrived at my target but there is no Gundam here. Someone must have gotten here before   
me. All that is here is a small table and a small metallic capsule."  
  
Quatre pushed over Trowa's shoulder. "Does it have a Capsule Corp Label?" Heero   
looked away from the screen, presumably while Rei checked, and then faced Trowa and   
Quatre again. "Yes. It has that logo on it. Why?" Quatre smiled and told him to take it   
outside, press the button, and step well back. Then meet us here at the co-ordinates we'll   
transmit to you. " Then he waved and Trowa cut off the communication.  
  
A few miles away, Heero frowned at Quatre's unusual instructions. He did however pick   
up the device and head towards the door. Rei blocked his path, pointing an arresting   
finger at his chest. "Stop right there Heero! We're not LEAVING this building until you   
start respecting me and treating me as an equal! I swear, if you keep one more secret from   
me or ignore me again I'll…"   
  
She seemed to be just warming up and Heero realized that he may have pushed her too   
far in his efforts to infuriate her. He had to admit that she was especially beautiful when   
she was so angry, but he seemed in for a truly long and boring lecture unless he could   
think of something fast to shut her up.   
  
Quickly and without second thought, he did the first thing that shot into his head,   
something he had secretly wanted to do for hours. He grabbed her face and kissed her. To   
his surprise she responded passionately and it was a while before they broke apart and   
headed towards to exit of the building, walking slightly closer together than when they   
had entered.   
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Just as Trowa's mini-com cut communications, Gohan's beeped. He answered it   
immediately to reveal his father's face, wearing a serious expression. "Hi son. We need   
to meet up with ye. We have our Gundam. Can you tell us where ye are?"  
  
Confused at the short message and abrupt greeting, Gohan transmitted his co-ordinates.   
"Thanks son. I'll be there soon." Without another word, Goku's image was gone. Gohan   
shrugged and folded away his communicator.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -   
  
Goku squinted at the gadget in his hands for a moment before handing it to Duo. "You're   
gonna have to be our map reader again. This make sense to you?" Duo nodded and the   
group took flight again, flyers carrying non-flyers as they had before. They were in a   
hurry to meet the others, as they had unanimously agreed that it was best to break their   
awful news in person rather than relating the deaths of their comrades over the mini-com   
system.  
  
About twenty minutes later, they arrived above the house. They were about to land, when   
Krillin pointed to the shadows and shouted, "Look! Over there!" everyone followed his   
gesture, to see tens of blood red eyes peeping out of the shadows. A closer look told them   
that demons of all shapes and were creeping towards the house from all directions.  
  
"What the… I thought these houses were supposed to be Safe! Isn't that the deal with   
'safe' houses?" Asked Duo in a mixture of exasperation and worry for his friends. Storm   
shook her head. "They're not entering the house. They can't. They know we're gathering   
there though so we won't be safe in there for long. We must hurry."  
  
To be on the safe side they entered through an upstairs window and never had to land   
near the demons. Glad to be finally reunited with their friends, they hurried downstairs.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Everyone jumped when the door to the stairs opened, but relaxed as soon as they   
recognized the intruders. However they know at once that something was wrong. They   
were all already in mourning for Kurt, whose group had related the heroic events of his   
death. They had just been about to discuss how to rescue Darien and Callum when   
Goku's group arrived.   
  
Goku, Krillin, Storm, Duo and Lita walked in slowly. They walked over and took seats   
where they were available, and Storm was about to begin speaking when Duo noticed   
someone. "Trunks!! Aria!! You guys are alive!! When we didn't find you we thought you   
were dead with all the others!"  
  
There was sudden shocked silence, as Lita punched Duo's arm for his indiscretion and   
everyone absorbed his statement. "Dead? Who? How?" asked Amy weakly. Storm took   
over and related as gently as she could what had happened. Reactions were pretty much   
the same in every case. The scouts were distraught at the loss of their two friends. Quatre   
and Trowa hung their heads in sorrow at the thought that their friend, who had finally lost   
his life after surviving so much.  
  
The X-men, who had already lost a man that day, had what might be the hardest blow,   
having one of their number responsible for the tragedy. Jubilee, who had almost regained   
calm on the way, burst out crying as Storm related the tale. Trunks buried his head in his   
hands and Aria wrapped her arms around him comfortingly.  
  
There was a gap of almost an hour while the living comforted the living, before Piccolo   
became impatient. "We can't stay here much longer if there are Demons gathering   
outside. We need a plan and we need to leave quickly." As he spoke, there was a   
thunderous crash as the glass of the room broke and Heero and Rei tumbled in, Heero   
rolling over Rei as they landed to protect her from the glass. A quick glance at the hosts   
of demons outside revealed why the door would not have been a better was to enter. It's   
hare to open a door when sprinting to escape demons.  
  
Heero and Rei stood up and shook themselves off, and Heero held up the Capsule. "We   
have it." They were quickly brought up to speed while Rei pulled the Glass out of   
Heero's back. Then, while they came to terms with the news, the rest of the group began   
discussing their next move.  
  
It was decided that there were three main tasks which needed doing. Darien needed to be   
rescued, Callum needed to be rescued, and Freiza needed to be found and destroyed. To   
do this they would need three teams. It didn't take long to split them up, and soon, Beast,   
who held a notepad, went over the plans once more to make sure everyone understood.   
  
"Alright people. I believe the first mission is to find Darien. The team for this is as   
follows:   
Serena   
Rei  
Hotaru  
Archangel  
Sam  
Setsuna  
Rini  
Garion  
Gotu  
Jubilee  
Quatre   
Amy  
Trowa  
Have I missed anyone? No? Good. The second mission is to locate and recover Callum.   
Team two consists of:  
Heero  
Duo  
Aria  
Storm  
Beast  
Bobby  
Mina  
Lita  
Alright? And mission three is to destroy Freiza. The team for this is:  
Goten  
Gohan  
Goku  
Krillin  
Piccolo  
Trunks  
However team two and three will travel together if possible, as they will complement   
each other. Until they split up if it becomes necessary, Teams two and three will together   
be known as Team Four. Everyone understand everything? Excellent." Beast sat down   
again.  
  
Within ten minutes everyone was gathering at the door, making farewells. It was more   
serious this time. Some of those they had said goodbye to last time had not returned. In   
the corner, the Gundam pilots conversed.   
  
"Well If you found Deathscythe Quatre then hand him over!" exclaimed Duo in relief.   
Quatre handed it to him while Heero returned Sandrock, which was the Gundam he had   
located, to it's rightful owner. Trowa wordlessly gave Wing back to Heero, and   
shrugging, accepted the only Gundam left for his own use, the Altron, or Nataku.   
  
There was a moment of silence, before Quatre said, "Good Luck you guys! Be careful!"   
They all nodded, somberly and headed back to the others who were at the door. They   
were going to have to fight their way out of the safe house because by now they had   
discovered even the sky was filled with demons.   
  
"Ready everyone?" asked Beast from the door. "Remember, Team 1 go left as soon as   
you break through. Team 4 hear right!" he added before he yanked the door open and   
they all poured out into furious battle.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Oh that all for now! ?  
  
By the way Moon Dragon I got Garion's name from mixing the two men in Serena's life   
up. Darien and Goten. Garion. ? Well that's the official line anyways… The truth is I'm   
a HUGE fan of David Eddings and I like the name.   
  
Anyway if you'll just allow me to sign off with a little music (loaded secretly with   
subliminal messaging)….  
  
LalalalalalalalalalalalalaaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalal  
alaaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalaaReviewLalalalal  
alalalalalalalalalalaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalaaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaR  
eview LalalalalalalalalalalalalaaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaReview   
LalalalalalalalalalalalalaaReviewLalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaREVIEEW!!!  
  
  
  
  
  



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